Spring lemon cupcakes

Obviously, not restricted for spring only ;)

Magnificently soft and wonderfully scented lemon cupcakes covered with sweet and colourful royal icing (I've never expected these two would make such a tasty connection!). These are my absolutely first steps with ready-to-use royal icing, so the decorations are not exceptionally complex ;) Feel free to use your imagination. Enjoy and bon appetit!

Serves: 12 cupcakes. Preparation: about 40 min. Baking: 17-20 min.

Equipment:

- zest grater,

- 2 bowls,

- mixer,

- muffin tin,

- muffin cases (or a bit of butter to grease the tin),

(now, for the decoration part:)

- 1 or 2 sheets of baking paper,

- rolling pin,

- biscuit cutter (round/roundish/flower-shaped) about 8cm (3 in) in diameter,

- small flower-shaped biscuit cutter (optional)

Ingredients:

* cupcakes:

- 113g (1/2 cup) soft unsalted butter,

- 130g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar,

- 3 eggs,

- 1 tsp vanilla extract,

- zest of 1 lemon,

- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice,

- 200g (1 1/2 cup) flour,

- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder,

- 1/4 tsp salt,

- 60ml (1/4 cup) milk,

(for the decoration:)

- 100g cream cheese,

- 180-200g ready-to-use icing,

- sugar pearls

Method:

Line the muffin tin with paper cases, or grease it with butter.

Grate the lemon zest.

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF.

In a (larger) bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (ca. 2-3 min.).

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir in the vanilla extract and lemon juice.

In the other (smaller) bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mix and milk to the butter mix, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat only until incorporated.

Fill in the muffin cases.

Bake for about 17-20 min., until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely and, with a knife, spread a thin layer of creem cheese on top of them.

Prepare the decoration:

Mold the icing in your hands, until it gains the consistency of plasticine.

Put the icing between two sheets of baking paper (or just put in on one side of a sheet and cover it, folding the paper in half), and roll it out to about 1,5 mm thick sheet.

Cut out circles or flowers (with the larger cutter), carefully peel them off and place on the tops of cupcakes..

Cut out flowers (with the small cutter), and glue them with cream cheese to the cupcake icing.

Glue also the sugar pearls at the centre of the flowers.

Easter egg cake pops

Easter inspirations!

For lovers of cake pops and white chocolate: cute Easter egg cake pops!

Basic recipe from over here, but I did add a bit of lemon juice - dunno why, but this taste and scent sort of reminds me of upcoming spring (yay!).

(Big thanks to Wybreda for the idea ;)).

Serves: 20 cake pops. Preparation: ca. 50 min. Refrigeration: 45 min.

Equipment:

- bowl,

- baking tin,

- 2 saucepans,

- mixer (optional),

- 20 lollipop sticks,

- glass or mug (best if narrow at base),

- cling film,

- baking paper,

- teaspoon,

- Styrofoam block

Ingredients:

- 400g of your favourite (dry) cake (it can be sponge cake, chocolate cake, etc.),

- 200g cream cheese,

- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice,

- 250g white chocolate for the coating,

- 1 tbsp sunflower oil,

- sprinkles, ready-to-use icing tubes

Method:

Make some room in your freezer :)

Crumble the cake into a bowl and mix thoroughly with cream cheese and lemon juice (a mixer might come in handy). 

Form the mixture into a ball, wrap it in cling film, and put into the freezer for 15 min.

Line the tray with baking paper.

Take teaspoonfuls of cake and form into balls of about 3 cm in diameter and then roll and flatten them until they resemble little eggs; place them on the tray.

Put the tray into the freezer for 15 min.

Don't they look like small potatoes? ;D 

Fill one pan up halfway with water and heat it until it begins to simmer.

Finely chop the chocolate and put into the other pan, along with the sunflower oil.

Stir the mixture over the pan with gently simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the saucepan. Stir until all the chocolate melts.

Pull out the cake balls from the freezer.

Dip the tip of a lollipop stick in the chocolate coating and insert it in the cake balls (a little less than halfway).

Place them again on the tin, and again put them into the freezer for 15 min.

During this time the chocolate coating will probably cool, so you'll have to melt it once more.

Pour the chocolate coating to a glass/mug.

Pull out the cake pops from the freezer and dip them in the coating, NEVER stir, and delicately tap off the excess.

Sprinkle each cake pop immediately after covering them in coating. You can also glue your decorations with icing, once the coating is dry.

Place your cake pops in a Styrofoam to dry completely.

It's best you keep them in the fridge.

Cake pops

It's cake pop time! :D

On my personal list of top desserts, cake pops are second (right behind cupcakes) cutest desserts in the world. I bet most of you already know the undeniable cake pop queen - Bakerella, who made them (and herself, too ;)) famous through her book and website. Basically cake pops are small balls of cake set on a lollipop sticks, covered in coating :) Bakerella makes them in almost all the shapes in the world: not only balls, but also hearts, mini-birthday-cakes, animals, cartoon characters - to name just a few - and my favourite of favourites - cupcake-shaped cake pops (surprise, surprise ;)). Her ideas are endless...

Yeah...so below you can find a basic cake pop recipe. Since Bakerella uses ready made cake mixes, I used the proportions for the "raw" ingredients from here and here. I did need a bit more chocolate for the coating, though. Oh! And do watch Bakerella's video on how to properly coat a cake pop. Trust me, just do it.

Serves: 20 cake pops. Preparation: about 45 min. Refrigeration: 45 min.

Equipment:

- bowl,

- small bowl,

- baking tin,

- 2 saucepans,

- mixer (optional),

- 20 lollipop sticks,

- glass or mug (best if narrow at base),

- cling film,

- baking paper,

- teaspoon,

- Styrofoam block

Ingredients:

- 400g of your favourite (dry) cake (it can be sponge cake, chocolate cake, etc.),

- 120g cream cheese,

- 80g chocolate peanut butter,

- 250g chocolate (milk or dark) for the coating,

- 1 tbsp sunflower oil,

- sprinkles

Method:

Make some room in your freezer :)

Crumble the cake into a bowl.

In the smaller bowl, mix together the cream cheese and chocolate peanut butter.

Mix thoroughly the cake with the just made icing (a mixer might come in handy), form the mixture into a ball, wrap it in cling film, and put into the freezer for 15 min.

Line the tray with baking paper.

Take teaspoonfuls of cake and form into balls of about 3 cm in diameter; place them on the tray.

Put the tray into the freezer for 15 min.

Fill one pan up halfway with water and heat it until it begins to simmer.

Finely chop the chocolate and put into the other pan, along with the sunflower oil.

Stir the mixture over the pan with gently simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the saucepan. Stir until all the chocolate melts.

Pull out the cake balls from the freezer.

Dip the tip of a lollipop stick in the chocolate coating and insert it in the cake balls (a little less than halfway).

Place them again on the tin, and again put them into the freezer for 15 min.

During this time the chocolate coating will probably cool, so you'll have to melt it once more.

Pour the chocolate coating to a glass/mug.

Pull out the cake pops from the freezer and dip them in the coating (hope you watched the video before doing this ;)), NEVER stir, and delicately tap off the excess.

Sprinkle each cake pop immediately after covering them in coating.

Place them in a Styrofoam to dry.

It's best you keep them in the fridge.

Irish pralines

Deliciuos and very easy to make :) I suppose they're called 'Irish' because of Baileys ♥ ;) but I guess you can use any other/favourite liqueur. I coated them in powdered sugar and cocoa poder, but finely chopped nuts will do the trick as well :)

Recipe (a bit changed) taken from a very (very) old issue of Lubię gotować mini-magazine.

Serves: 33 pralines. Preparation: 40 min. Refrigeration: 1 h + 1 night.

Equipment:

- bowl,

- blender or grater,

- mixer

Ingredients:

- 150g sponge cake (can be leftovers),

- 160g (1 2/5 stick) cold butter,

- 200g dark chocolate,

- 6 tbsp Baileys,

- 40g ground almonds,

- 4 tbsp cocoa powder,

- 3 tbsp powdered sugar 

Method:

Finely grate the chocolate, or blend it into really tiny pieces.

Crumble the cake into a bowl.

Chop the cold butter into thin pieces and add it to the cake, along with the chocolate.

Mix well.

Add 2 tbsp of cocoa powder, the liqueur, and the ground almonds, and mix.

Form the mixture into a ball and refrigerate for an hour.

Then, roll the mixture into small balls (ca. 3cm in diameter).

Refrigerate through the night.

In the morning, coat half of them in powdered sugar, and the other half in the remaining cocoa powder.

Yummy :)

Vanilla Cupcakes

If you're just starting your marvelous cupcake adventure, I dearly recommend this simple recipe for basic vanilla cupcakes. They're topped with classic buttercream icing - of which, to be honest,  I'm not a huge fan...YET - but you can easily replace it with cream cheese icing. But just so you're aware of the basics, I'm putting the recipe here as well. Mind you, cupcakes taste best within an hour from baking...but I doubt they'd stay that long anyway ;)

Recipe takien from this fantastic website (check out their video clip for the recipe!).

Serves: 12. Preparation: 25 min. Baking: 17-20 min.

Equipment:

- zest grater,

- 2 bowls,

- mixer,

- muffin tin,

- muffin cases (or a bit of butter to grease the tin)

Ingredients:

* cupcakes:

- 113g (1/2 cup) soft unsalted butter,

- 130g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar,

- 3 eggs,

- 1 tsp vanilla extract,

- zest of 1 lemon,

- 200g (1 1/2 cup) flour,

- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder,

- 1/4 tsp salt,

- 60ml (1/4 cup) milk

* buttercream icing:

- 230g (2 cups) sifted powdered sugar,

- 113g (1/2 cup) soft unsalted butter,

- 1 tsp vanilla extract,

- 2 tbsp milk,

- food colouring (optional)

- sprinkles (optional)

Method:

Line the muffin tin with paper cases, or grease it with butter.

Grate the lemon zest.

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF.

In a (larger) bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (ca. 2-3 min.).

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

In the other (smaller) bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mix and milk to the butter mix, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat only until incorporated.

Fill in the muffin cases.

Bake for about 17-20 min., until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

In the meantime, prepare the icing:

In a bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

With the mixture on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar.

Add the milk, and mix everything on high speed until fluffy (ca. 3-4 min).

At the end you can add and mix in the food colouring (a teeny-tiny amount will do).

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.

Decorate them with the icing, using either a piping bag, or simply a knife ;)

Finally, sprinkle them, and...enjoy :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can't imagine a more traditional, more iconic, more first-coming-to-your-mind American dessert than chocolate chip cookies.

This was my first attempt to bake them, and I think they turned up quite well - when brought to work the next day, they disappeared uncanninly fast. So...watch out! ;)

(Recipe taken from here)

Serves: makes 39. Preparation: 25 min. Baking: 12 min.

Equipment:

- large bowl,

- mixer,

- spoon,

- baking tray,

- baking paper

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar,

- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar*,

- 226g (1 cup) butter,

- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract,

- 1 egg,

- 2 1/4 cup flour,

- 1 tsp baking soda,

- 1/2 tsp salt,

- 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts,

- 12 oz chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF.

* For regular brown sugar to become packed, you have to press it and squeeze it tightly in the cup, in order to eliminate all the air pockets. Then you just turn the cup upside-down in the bowl(!), as if making a sand castle.

Close enough ;)

Add the white sugar, vanilla extract, and the egg, and mix well.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt, and stir. The dough will be thick and stiff, so you might use the help of a mixer.

Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.

Line your tray with baking paper and, using a regular spoon or an ice cream spoon, place rounded pieces of dough on the sheet, leaving about 5 cm/2 inches of space between them.

Bake about 12 min.

The cookies, when baked, will be very soft, so it's best you leave them to cool for a few minutes on the tray, before placing them on a wire rack, to cool completely.

Needless to say, they taste delicious served with a glass of milk ;)

Tiramisu

At long last!...

My first tiramisu.

I had quite of a problem what kind of alcohol to use, because the recipe involved Marsala wine - which I didn't have. I knew you can also use amaretto - which I didn't have - and some of my firends use rum - which I, again, didn't have. (I don't seem to have been much prepared now, do I?) But then I found a note somewhere in the internet that dry Marsala wine can be substituted with regular dry wine with a bit of vodka. There you go! (I know it's far from ideal, but...).

Anyway, here it comes!

(Recipe from Cooking from above. Italian. by Laura Zavan.)

Serves: makes 4-6. Preparation: 42 min. Refrigeration: 2 h.

Equipment:

- rectangular serving dish,

- 2 bowls,

- mixer,

- whist,

- spoon :)

Ingredients:

- 250g mascarpone,

- 20-30 ladyfingers/savoiardi sponge cakes,

- 3 eggs,

- 3 tbsp sugar,

- 4 espresso cups of hot espresso :),

- 3 tbsp dry Marsala wine (or 2 tbsp dry white wine + 1 tbsp vodka),

- 1 tbsp cocoa powder,

- pinch of salt,

- 1 tsp almond extract (optional)

Method:

Prepare the espresso (do not drink it ;)).

In the meantime separate the egg whites and yolks - pour the whites into a small bowl, and the yolks into a bigger one.

Add sugar to the yolks and beat them until smooth.

Add the wine, (vodka, and almont extract) and stir.

Gradually, spoon after spoon, mix in the mascarpone, until smooth and creamy.

Put the mixture in the fridge.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.

Add the beaten egg whites to the mascarpone mixture and carefully stir with a whisk.

Spread two tablespoons of the mixture on the bottom of the dish.

Soak the ladyfingers in the espresso and place them as one layer in the dish.

Cover them with half of the mascarpone mixture. 

Make another sponge cake layer and cover it with the rest of the mascarpone mix.

Put into the fridge for abou 2 h.

Sprinkle with cocoa powder before serving.

And enjoy your dolce vita ;)...