WbLL- what boredom looks like...

It seems as if every Tom, Dick and Harry is opening up a cupcake shop. Maybe because cupcakes are less threatening than the average cake. They are less intimidating, you don’t have to worry about your cake falling, and they are reminiscent of high school home ec. -- depending on what school you went to. For all these reasons and more, bakeries specializing in cupcakes are popping up faster than you can say Starbucks, each one claiming to have brought something unique to the game. Small, large, tons of icing or scantly clad, a cupcake by any other name, means or agenda is still just a cupcake. In a fit of boredom, whilst reading my copy of Bon Appetit late one night, I too embarked on a cupcake escapade. Their lemon-raspberry cupcake recipe (an amended version provided below), was a fruity and delightful excursion from my state of insomnia. A couple of sleepless hours later, a few tweaks to the original recipe, and I had a dozen or so tasty cupcakes to bribe my low-carb dieter friends.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature


• 3 cups powdered sugar, divided


• 4 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel, divided


• 2 large eggs


• 1 ¼ cups self-rising flour


• ¼ cup heavy cream


• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided


• ½ cup orange juice


• 12 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon seedless raspberry jam


• 1 ½ cups of walnuts (for garnish)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Using electric mixer, beat butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 3 teaspoons lemon peel in large bowl until blended, then beat until fluffy and pale yellow. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in half of flour. Add heavy cream and 2 tablespoons lemon juice; beat to blend. Beat in remaining flour.


• Drop 1 rounded tablespoonful batter into each muffin liner. Spoon 1 teaspoon raspberry jam over. Cover with remaining batter, dividing equally.


• Bake cupcakes until tester inserted halfway into centers comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on rack. Meanwhile spread walnuts out on a cookie sheet and put in the oven to roast, for 7 minutes. In a small bowl whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 table spoons of raspberry jam and ½ cup of orange juice. Once whipped, spoon icing over cupcakes and garnish with walnuts. Let stand until icing sets, about 30 minutes.

Labels: Eating Out, New York, Sweet