Sweet Treats Saturday: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I've been in the mood for breakfast treats recently.  Maybe it's all the talk of back to school? I feel left out though, since I'm not in school anymore.  Instead, I decided to make some muffins. I nice little sweet pick-me-up with a cup of coffee, or an afternoon snack.  The lemon is so refreshing and I love the little crunch of poppy seeds.  This recipe was so easy to make and whipped up exactly one dozen muffins.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker
(Baking time was slightly modified)
Makes 12 muffins
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Ingredients:
2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or line with cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers until the two are incorporated - the sugar will have a nice lemony scent. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, quickly stir to blend. Lumps are ok as you don't want to overmix the batter. Stir in the poppy seeds until incorporated into the batter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffins cups (I just used a large cookie dough scoop).

3. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool slightly before removing the muffins from the pan.  Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Sweet Treats Saturday: Lemon Bars

Most of the time, I create my desserts based on items I have on hand.  In the case of this week, I was handed a bag of lemons from a good friend.  She has a bit of land in the Santa Cruz mountains and between her gazillion chickens (give or take a few), she also has a plethora of lemons every year.  Only after realizing that I had never made lemon bars for What's Up, Cupcake? did I realize I needed to make them for this week.  Also, the weather was gorgeous and so very spring, that it just fit.

These delicious treats are so easy to make, but really any sort of 'healthy' features that the lemon contributes to this dessert vanish when you see the rest of the ingredients. Seriously. I gained weight reading the recipe.  But lucky for me, I can only handle so much lemon so this dessert is a perfect treat that I can only enjoy in moderation.  Chocolate on the other hand...

Lemon Bars
Recipe from Ina Garten
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Ingredients for the crust:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt

Ingredients for the filling:
6 extra-large eggs, room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsp grated lemon zest (approx. 4 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13" baking pan.

2. For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Combine the flour and salt, and slowly add to the butter/sugar mixture until just combined.  Dump onto a well-floured board and form into a ball.  Press into the bottom prepared baking pan so that the whole bottom is covered.  Chill until oven is preheated.  Then place into the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  Let cool.

3.  With oven still on, prep the filling.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and flour.  Pour over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the filling is set.  Let cool to room temperature.

Fresh from the oven, before adding the powdered sugar

4.  Once cooled, cut into squares or triangles and dust with confectioner's sugar.  Enjoy!

This post will be participating in the following Linky parties:

Think Pink Sundays * Sundae Scoop * Sunday Showcase Party *Watcha Got Weekend * Family Ever After * Nifty Thrifty Sunday * Making the World Cuter * Home Savvy * Just Something I Whipped Up * Mix It Up Monday * Made by You Mondays *Tuesday Time Out * Sew Cute Tuesday * Talent Tuesday * We Did It Wednesday * Whatcha Baking Wednesday * Anything Goes * Hoo’s Got Talent * Look What I Made * The Trendy Treehouse * It’s a Hodgepodge * Petals to Picots * Spread the Love * Tatertots & Jello 

Sweet Treats Saturday: Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These franken cupcakes are a result of my first batch being complete flops.  The original recipe still left me craving a lemon cupcake with cream cheese frosting, so I continued on with that plan, just with a different cake base.

The alternate cupcake recipe was a perfect substitute and they baked up with a light lemon flavor that complimented the cream cheese frosting well.  I don't like my lemon to be overpowering, but if you did you could adjust the recipe for more lemon zest and juice, adjusting the flour mixture appropriately.  I don't think a smidge more lemon juice would have tampered with the consistency though after this week's previous mishap, my baking skills took a minor blow.

The flops. So sad. They were still delicious, but they just didn't rise like they should have.

Anyways, these cupcakes are foolproof and delicious!  They're perfect way to celebrate Spring.  I thought I'd mix things up a bit and use an assortment of cupcake wrappers.  I liked the variety and it seemed more festive for the season.

Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cupcake recipe from Baked Perfection
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Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
4 teaspoons grated lemon zest
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sour cream
1 stick butter, softened
2 lbs. confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
juice of one lemon


Directions:
1. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. 
2.  Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick). 
3.  Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely.


Cream Cheese Frosting 
Recipe from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

8oz butter (1 stick), softened

2 lbs confectioners' sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

Using a mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese together until well combined.  Gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar until fully incorporated. Then mix in vanilla and lemon juice.

This post will be participating in the following Linky parties:

Think Pink Sundays * Sundae Scoop * Sunday Showcase Party *Watcha Got Weekend * Family Ever After * Nifty Thrifty Sunday * Making the World Cuter * Home Savvy * Just Something I Whipped Up * Mix It Up Monday * Made by You Mondays *Tuesday Time Out * Sew Cute Tuesday * Talent Tuesday * We Did It Wednesday * Whatcha Baking Wednesday * Anything Goes * Hoo’s Got Talent * Look What I Made * The Trendy Treehouse * It’s a Hodgepodge * Petals to Picots * Spread the Love * Tatertots & Jello 

Sweet Treats Saturday: Lemon Pound Cake

A couple of days before the Gatsby event this past week, Mena and I were emailing each other our plans for the event.  Believe it or not, I was chosen to make dessert. ;)  I actually did a little bit of homework, trying to find a dessert that would be period appropriate for the picnic.  Pound cake seemed to fit into the time, and Goodies by Anna had just post a summer-y lemon pound cake recipe.  Just in time!

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake
Recipe from Goodies by Anna


Ingredients
Cake Batter:

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

• 3 cups granulated sugar

• 6 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon lemon extract (Added for extra flavor)

• Grated zest of 2 lemons

• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (Added for extra flavor)

Lemon Simple Syrup:

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup water

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (Added for extra flavor)

Lemon Glaze:

• lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

• powdered sugar

Directions
Start by spraying a 12 cup Bundt pan with Pam for Baking (or you can butter and flour the pan). Set aside. 
Note: I used a regular sized bundt pan, and a lemon-designed loaf pan. It was the perfect amount of batter for both.  So if you don't have a larger pan, you can split it between the two.  I think it would have also fit into two regular size loaf pans.


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.


Cake Batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugar until fluffly. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Beat in the extracts and the zest. On low speed add the flour alternating with the sour cream, in three additions. Beat in the lemon juice until batter is smooth. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until a wood skewer inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.


Lemon Simple Syrup: While cake is baking, combine lemon juice, sugar, water, zest and lemon extract in a small sauce pan set over medium high heat. Bring mixture a boil and cook until reduced down to approximately 1/2 cup of syrup, around 15 minutes. Let syrup cool before brushing onto warm cake.


Assembly: Poke holes into cake while still warm from the oven. Brush liberally with lemon simple syrup. Let cake cool for 15 minutes then invert cake out onto cooling rack. Poke holes in top of cake and brush liberally with remaining lemon simple syrup. Let cake cool completely on wire rack.

Lemon Glaze: While cake is cooling on rack, in a small bowl add lemon juice by the Tablespoon full to around 1 cup of powdered sugar until a thick glaze comes together. I also added a little lemon extract for extra flavor. Drizzle the glaze over the cool cake. Let glaze set up for around 10 minutes before cutting cake. Store in a airtight container on the counter. 

Sweet Treats Saturday: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

As you can see, I'm on a cupcake roll.  Not only that, but I thought I would try something completely new. I love to bake, but there are a few things I haven't made yet for a few reasons:

1. Creme Brulee: I have a torch, but playing with fire scares me.
2. French macaroons: There's only so many steps I can take while making something, and the thought of making it look so uniform makes me grimace.
3. Meringue: a) That's a whole lot of egg whites, b) what do you do with all of those yolks? c) it's just intimidated me.

Well, I stumbled upon a lemon cupcake recipe the other day while surfing the Cake Journal blog that had a meringue frosting.  Normally I would have just substituted the frosting for another kind, but I was feeling gutsy, and had a lot of eggs in the fridge.

Lemon zest

Spring liners

The cupcakes were your standard vanilla cupcakes with a lemon full of fresh zest.  That was the easy part.  I baked them in some cute spring wrappers (it's a beautiful, sunny day in the California Bay Area), and started inching towards the eggs that were glaring at me.

The hubby separated all of the whites and yolks for me (I keep him around for things like this), and placed them in a cute little lemon bowl (to stay on theme of course).

Lemon bowl filled with egg whites.

Add a bucket load of sugar, some vanilla, and mix.  So far so good.  Now onto the scary part - the double broiler.  I've done this method for plenty of things but the thought of doing it for finicky eggs was a daunting task.  I made sure to keep the water at a simmer and stirred constantly.  I couldn't find my candy thermometer so I just eyeballed it to see when the sugar was dissolved.

Mixing bowl in a pot on the stove.

Afterwards, I reattached the bowl to my stand mixer and let it whisk on high for about 5 minutes.  The recipe said it could take up for 12 or more minutes, but mine made it to stiff peaks pretty fast.  And there it is. Beautiful, fluffy, marshmallow like, meringue frosting.

Meringue

I was so pleased with the results, and it made a ton! I definitely could have made a second batch of cupcakes and still had enough.

A beautiful cupcake on my new Crate and Barrel plate.

I piped some extra onto wax paper just to see how it would hold up.  Maybe a treat for later?

This post will be participating in the following Linky parties:

Making the World Cuter * Just Something I Whipped Up * Made by You Mondays * Sew Cute Tuesday * Talent Tuesday * I Made This * We Did It Wednesday * Hoo’s Got Talent * The Trendy Treehouse * Tatertots & Jello * Thrilling Thursday * It’s a Hodgepodge Friday