Lemon Cake, Part Deux

So yes, once again I'm a repeat offender.  I made the lemon cake again.  What can I say?  It was my boss's birthday, and his wife told me he loves lemon cake!  In my own defense, though, I did it up a little different, using fresh whipped cream as frosting, and fresh raspberries on top.  SO good.  I'd actually venture to say that it was better than the lime frosting!  Especially in the middle of winter, such a refreshing dessert!  I've gotten rave reviews in the office so far (but hey, who's going to call me up and say, "Hmmm. Yeaaah.  Your cake kiiiiinda stunk. Sorry!" ;)

So I don't leave you hanging, though, I've got a non-baked good recipe to share.  The other night I made this OUTSTANDING soup that my best friend of 10 years, Anne,emailed to me.  She told me it's incredible, and that I had to try it.

Oh. my. god.

She was right, it's amaaaazing!  While I'd normally make a soup like this in the fall, when squash is more plentiful (or maybe it's just my grocery store, but I had to buy organic.  It's all they had!), this was so satisfying on the chilly and rainy Sunday we had this week in DC.  The only warning I'll throw out was that peeling and cubing an acorn squash was like nothing I've ever experienced before.  Flat out: it was hard.  Be sure you have a sharp knife!  Also, if you wait to peel, core, and cube your apples until after the squash, you'll feel like a ninja with your knife skills.  Substantially easier!!

On to the recipe!

Apple Squash Soup
Acorn squash makes the richest soup, even though it can be difficult to peel; butternut or even yellow zucchini may be substituted. This simple soup adds color and elegance to any meal!

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onion
About 3 pounds acorn squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (about 6 cups)
2 Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled, cored, and cubed
3 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup apple cider or apple juice
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1-2 Granny Smith or other tart apples, for garnish
In a large soup pot, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until tender. Add squash, apples, chicken stock, and salt.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes or until squash and apples are tender. Puree the soup in a blender (I used my immersion blender, worked beautifully!) and return to soup pot. Stir cider into pureed soup. If necessary, reheat soup until hot. Pepper liberally.

Grate or chop apples into tiny pieces just before serving and garnish each bowl of soup.

**I also added a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg to mine, which turned out excellent.  Anne likes to add some curry powder to hers.  There's a ton you could do with this!  I also think that some warm, chewy french bread is a must when eating this soup.  SO good!

Banana Cupcakes w. Brown Sugar Frosting

So you know how sometimes you'll be eating a candy...let's say Starburst...and you really really like the cherry ones. You save the cherry ones for last right? Well these banana cupcakes were the cherry starburst, and I made them first (woops)! These tasty fellas set the bar WAY high for the cupcake craziness. Ever since I made them, every week someone has said "Well these cupcakes are good...but they're still not as good as the banana cupcakes."



They're kind of an ace in the hole, and I'm guessing they'll make a repeat appearance again soon (the next time I have bananas hanging around). The second cupcakes that I made I used this recipe, but subbed Strawberries for Bananas. A good idea in theory, but it was way too wet of a batter, and didn't really work-they were a bit soggy. I'll keep experimenting with that one before I send it out to you. Until then...Banana Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting!



Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 C All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 medium VERY ripe bananas
• 1/3 C buttermilk
• 8 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, set aside.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with the buttermilk until smooth (REALLY smooth, otherwise the chunks will make your cupcakes soggy).

Beat the butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating completely after each addition. Add the vanilla. On low speed, add the buttermilk/banana mixture in three parts, alternating with the flour mixture in two parts (so you start and end with the buttermilk/banana mixture). Mix at low speed until just blended.

Add mix into cupcake pan, about 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 min until a toothpick comes out dry (crumbs are actually okay-just make sure it’s not batter. If there are no crumbs, they’re usually overcooked).

Remove from oven and let cool completely. Top with brown sugar buttercream (chocolate is good here too!)

Brown Sugar Buttercream

• 8 Tbsp butter (I used salted, I don’t think it really matters for this)
• ½ c dark brown sugar
• ¼ c milk (any kind, I used skim and it was fine)
• 2 c confectioner’s sugar

Melt the butter and brown sugar in a heavy bottomed pan, stirring over moderate heat until sugar is dissolved. Add the milk and blend (I used a whisk to smooth it out a little more). Cool completely, then add confectioner’s sugar slowly until stiff enough to spread. Once you get the consistency that you like, crank up the speed and whip until lighter/fluffier.

Aren't these so cute?! I got a new piping bag and piping tips at Hills Kitchen. So much fun!

Lemon-Lime Cupcakes

As I mentioned in my intro, I started this whole cupcake bonanza business a couple weeks ago, before I started the blog. The first three recipes I made aren't in here yet, so I thought I'd bring everyone up to speed.

First up we have Lemon Cupcakes with Lime Frosting. These little babies were deeeeelish if I do say so myself! It's been stifling hot here in DC recently (yes mother...I know the weather's always perfect in San Diego...no bragging needed) so these cupcakes were completely refreshing. I got the recipe for the cupcakes from the food network, and the frosting I just kind of made up. They are so light and fluffy- in my opinion they don't need any frosting at all...but I'm pretty sure that's some type of cupcake sin that I'd be terrified of ever committing. The lime was pretty tasty on top, though. It kind of tasted like a margarita, which if you switched out the lemon for lime in the cupcake, I'm pretty sure you could pull off pretty easily!

Lemon Cupcakes with Lime Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 C cake flour (if you sub AP flour here, look up how to, it's not the same!)


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp baking soda


• 1/4 tsp salt


• 1C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened


• 1 1/2 C granulated sugar


• 2 whole eggs at room temperature


• 3 large egg yolks at room temperature


• 2 tsp grated lemon zest


• 1/4 C fresh lemon juice


• 1/2 C whole milk


• 2 tsp vanilla
  

Preheat oven to 350F, line muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with baking spray

In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir together with a whisk

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed about 30 seconds, or until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and increase to med-high speed. Continue about 3 minutes until mixture is light

Add whole eggs & yolks 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla and zest, reduce speed to low, and gradually beat in the lemon juice (the batter will look curdled, that's okay!)

Beat in dry ingredients in 3 additions, and milk in 2. Scrape down sides of the bowl and beat another 10 seconds.

Try to hold back here, because this batter is DELICIOUS. There's that whole raw egg thing going on in there, though, so I can't recommend it to you ;)

Fill muffin pan with batter, about 2/3 full, bake 15-20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in the pan on a rack for about 10-15 min, then invert and cool completely.

Lime Frosting

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened


• 8 oz butter, softened.


• 16oz confectioner's sugar


• juice of one lime


• zest from 1 lime


• 1 tsp vanilla


• 1-3 Tbsp milk (I used 1)

Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes high speed in a stand mixer. Gradually add the sugar, mixing until smooth. Add the vanilla, zest, and juice and mix through. Add the milk, 1 Tbsp at a time until you reach the consistency that you want.

And now for a picture! I didn't go all fancy on these, I just spread the icing on with a small offset spatula. The icing is pretty potent, and when you taste it you'll probably think it's pretty strong, but it really does match up nicely with the lemon cake. I only used a thin layer of frosting for that reason, though, instead of piping it on.

Enjoy!