Martha Stewart's Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

 

I both love and envy Martha Stewart in that Stepford Wives kind of way. It seems that everything she produces is perpetually picture perfect. I know that most of this is an illusion created for print and television, but I am certain that, given the opportunity to meet the woman herself, I would discover she can, on the first try, successfully bake most of the delicacies in her numerous, albeit daunting, cookbooks. 

I believe it was this blog that finally gave me the courage and inspiration to purchase one of her cookbooks and try one of the more intimidating recipes. My father selected the recipe while flipping through my new copy of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes and making suggestions about what I try to bake next. I am not going to detail the recipe here because you can get it in its entirety on Martha's website or in her cookbook.

The cupcakes turned out luscious and delicate. The cake was incredibly moist with just the perfect lemon flavor. The strong flavor of the lemon curd was balanced nicely with the creamy meringue topping. 

While the end product was well worth the effort, assembling the many components that came together to create these cupcakes took a great deal of time and patience. If you choose to purchase Martha's cookbook, I would recommend thoroughly reading through each recipe and creating a game plan before you attempt to execute it. 

For these cupcakes, I would block off a solid three hours of kitchen time to bake and decorate. It would be prudent to make the lemon curd in advance, so that it's ready to go when you make the meringue. The curd can keep in the fridge for up to two days before you need it. The recipe calls for six lemons, but I only used five. If you purchase a larger lemons, I think you would be safe with five.

The cake component was relatively easy to put together. I got to use a microplaner for the first time and discovered that you have to be pretty aggressive to get the right amount of zest for the batter. I would not recommend using anything other than a microplaner because you risk having lemon rind mini-chunks in your cakes. A properly blended batter will be thick. The cakes took a full twenty-five minutes to bake and came out a beautiful, buttery color.

The lemon curd definately gave me some trouble. Martha's instructions were vague and neglected to offer estimated times for critical stages in the curd making process. This surprised me because other areas of her cookbook were much more specific. I heated the curd base for what I thought was an appropriate time, but it ended up not setting up in the fridge.I had to reheat the mixture and add in some sugar-free lemon Jello in order for it to set up.

Making the meringue frosting was surprisingly easy. It requires the use of a candy thermometer, so be sure you have one on hand. The frosting must be used immediately after making, so make sure you have all of the other components ready to go before you begin. Piping the meringue on the cupcakes was a delightfully messy experience. I imagine that it would be supremely fun to try with enthusiastic, sugar-loving, six-year-olds as it has a tendency to get all over the place inviting one to eat as one decorates.

Over all the flavor and consistency of the cupcakes far outweighed the problems I encountered while making these. I would make them again but only with careful planning and preparation.

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Chocolate Bacon and Toffee Cupcakes

 

Thanks to the suggestion of a coworker and at the request of my husband, I decided to venture into the unknown and explore bacon cupcakes. The idea of any meat in a dessert is admittedly more than a tiny bit disturbing.  Of course, if one were forced to select a meat that might enhance a dessert, it would have to be bacon. Bacon is simply delightful swimming in maple syrup next to golden-brown pancakes on a snugly Saturday morning, so it would reasonably follow that a cupcake with maple frosting is not a fry cry from this delectable breakfast scenario. 

Having selected the flavor, I set about looking for a recipe for bacon cupcakes. You might imagine this to be a difficult task, but it seems that there is a trend in the baking world towards using bacon in cakes. After looking over several recipes, I ended up using one from Cupcake Bakeshop. She has two recipes for bacon cupcakes, one that calls for fresh corn, and one more traditional, if you can imagine. I made a few, minimal alterations to the chocolate recipe. It follows below.

Chocolate Bacon and Toffee Cupcakes

Makes about 18 regular cupcakes

1/2 c. butter at room temperature

1 c. + 2 tbs. sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 c. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

4 slices cooked bacon cut into chunks

1/3 c. chopped chocolate covered toffee

Beat the butter until softened. I cut mine up into pats and then creamed it. Add the sugar and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Add the two eggs, blending until well combined. 

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Mix the vanilla and milk in a measuring cup. Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients to your butter mixture, ending with the dry. When the batter is well mixed it will be thick, the consistency of a brownie batter. 

Fold in your bacon and chocolate covered toffees. 

Place cupcake liners in your pan and add batter until each cup is about 2/3 full. Bake for about 21-25 minutes at 350, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

2 packages of cream cheese

1/2 c. butter at room temperature

5-8 cups sifted powdered sugar

3 tsp. maple flavored extract

Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Begin adding powdered sugar a cup at a time. Doing this slowly will prevent powered sugar clouds from taking over your kitchen. Add the maple extract and mix until smooth. Taste the frosting to ensure you have achieved the right strength of maple flavoring and it is the proper consistency. 

Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes using a pastry bag and large round tip.

These cupcakes were mild and delicious. The bits of bacon in the cake complemented the maple cream cheese frosting nicely. I felt that the toffee flavor, unfortunately, disappeared when competing with the chocolate and bacon combination of the cupcake, but my husband was able to distinguish and appreciate its subtle flavor. I will definitely revisit the toffee flavor, but I believe it merits a cupcake all to itself. The frosting, because it was in large part cream cheese, was light and creamy with just the perfect level of sweetness. Its taste and consistency was very similar to that of the frosting on an Italian Cream Cake. My husband described these cupcakes as brownies with bacon- the bacon being an added bonus.

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Caramel Cupcakes

Be sure to enjoy these cupcakes with a big glass of milk because they are incredibly decadent.

I've always loved the flavor of chewy caramel. I remember going to my local Ingles as a child and paying a nickle for a sample of a individually wrapped caramel candy. I would never chew it; I would let it melt, so I could enjoy the flavor as my mom shopped for groceries. Caramel is a candy I associate wholly with pleasant memories, so it was with great pleasure and excitement that I set out to make these caramel cupcakes.

When I began looking around for recipes, I discovered that most people make a chocolate cake with caramel frosting. I was seeking a powerful caramel flavor and wanted to ensure that the entire bite embodied the essence of a caramel with all the spongy goodness of a cupcake. I finally found a recipe that met my criteria at Our Best Bites. I only used the cake recipe from this site as the icing recipe left me a bit unsettled. I am a firm believer that icing should be composed of sugars and fats, never flour.

For the icing, I went with my standard American butter cream. This has been my mother's go to recipe for years, and, being the dutiful daughter, I have naturally embraced it in my cooking. To capture the luscious caramel flavor I love so much, I folded in a batch of homemade caramel. Making the caramel was by far the most fascinating kitchen adventure I have had since the birth of this blog. It was fairly simple, only requiring a minimum of utensils and patience- two key components in anything I bake.

Caramel Cupcakes
Makes about 15 cupcakes

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 large eggs at room temprature
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and prepare your cupcake pan. 

Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of your mixer. Cream together on medium speed. Add your vanilla, milk, baking powder, salt, and eggs. Mix again until all ingredients are incorporated. The mixture will appear soupy. This is okay because you are going to be adding your flour next.

Add the flour in three parts, mixing between each part. This will ensure that the flour does not dust your kitchen. After adding the flour, continue mixing until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake for about twenty minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. 
 

Caramel Butter Cream Frosting  

To make the frosting, you will need to prepare the caramel in advance. I made mine while the cupcakes were baking. It does not take a great deal of time, but you want to allow time for the caramel to cool before you add it to your frosting.

For the caramel
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
Pinch of salt

Before you begin, have a medium sized, heatproof bowl waiting to receive the caramel. 

In a medium sized, high sided sauce pan, cook the sugar over medium-high heat. You need to watch the sugar carefully to ensure that you begin to stir at the right time. After about five minutes, you will start to notice that the sugar is melting around the edges of the pan, turning dark amber. When you notice the amber colored liquid, begin stirring the sugar with a clean wooden spoon. Continue stirring until all sugar is melted, turning a golden amber. This should take about three minutes. 

This next step can be a bit tricky. I wore an oven glove to protect my stirring pan from hot spatter. I would advise that you do this when the kids are not in the kitchen.

Carefully and slowly pour the cream down the side of the pan, stirring constantly. It will bubble and spatter. Continue stirring until the cream is incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the salt. You may notice some lumps of sugar in your mixture. On occasional lump is okay, but the mixture should not be visibly chunky. At this point the mixture should look and smell like hot caramel. 


Pour the mixture in the heatproof bowl and allow to cool before using.

For the frosting
2 sticks butter (1 c), at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 lbs. confectioner's sugar
3 tbs. milk
1 recipe caramel, at room temperature

In the bowl of your mixer, gradually combine the butter with the sugar. Mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Add the milk and vanilla. Mix on medium-high speed, until the mixture is smooth. If it's not as smooth as you would like, do not worry.

Add the caramel in portions, mixing on medium speed. Sample the frosting frequently to determine if more caramel is desired. This frosting can be incredibly rich if all of the caramel is incorporated into the mixture. I used all of my caramel in my frosting, and the cupcakes were amazing. Keep in mind that I absolutely love sweet, rich, caramel.

The amount of caramel you choose to incorporate into your icing will affect the consistency and taste. More caramel will result in a thinner, richer icing, while less will result in a thicker, milder icing. If you are planning on using decorator tips to ice your cupcakes, go with less caramel for a thicker consistency.

If you want to take it to the next level, reserve some of the caramel and drizzle it over the iced cupcakes. This not only looks impressive, but it makes the cupcakes absolutely over the top. I will definately do this next time. 

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