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Friday, June 29, 2012

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Last night was my grandfather's retirement dinner. It was a small get together for the family and a lot of people from his work that came out to celebrate his many years of serving the United States. My grandfather worked as a police officer and an emergency help for the military I believe. He did so many great things for this country and served for all of its citizens. I'm very lucky to have him as my grandfather. For his retirement dinner, I wanted to do something for him, and so I made Lemon Meringue cupcakes. A few people approached me during the dinner and told me they were very delicious. I was very happy with them :-)






To make these cupcakes, you will need:

1. 1 box of lemon cake mix

2. A jar of Lemon curd (I used 1 and 1/2 jar, but it depends how much you fill the center) The lemon curd can be found in pretty much any supermarket near the jellies.

3. 4 Egg Whites

4. 6 Tablespoons of sugar

The steps:

1. Follow the cake mix ingredients and procedures to make the lemon cake. Spoon the batter into cupcake papers and bake as directed on the box. 

2. While the cupcakes are baking, get a piping bag together with a piping tip so you can fill the center with the lemon curd. After the cupcake come out of the oven, let them cool. After they cool get either a spoon or a knife (I used a knife) to carve out a hole in the center of the cupcake. The first photo shows how big the cupcake hole should be. While making a hole in the center, don't go too deep in the cupcake where your knife or spoon goes through the bottom, leave the bottom have some space.

3. After you make the holes for the lemon curd filling, pipe the curd into the hole that you made before. I come to learn that if you don't have a piping bag/decorating bag, just use a zip-lock bag and cut a little bit off one of the corners at the bottom, it works just the same! 

4. After piping in the lemon curd, it's time to make the meringue. Whip the 4 egg whites together on high speed with a hand blender or a mixer. After the egg whites show a soft peak, start adding the sugar in a little bit at a time while its still mixing. You'll see that it gets very fluffy and sticky. I would taste check and add more sugar if you need too. I ended up adding a little bit more than what it called for. 

5. Pipe the meringue onto the tops of the cupcakes. Once you pipe all of them, put the cupcakes on a sheet tray and place them back into the oven on 350 degrees for approximately 5-7 minutes so they can get a little stiff on top and brownish, not too brownish but where it looks like a toasted marshmallow. Then take them out and let them cool.

**And then there you have your Lemon Meringue cupcakes! Enjoy!**
































Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Mrs. Dash Facebook Giveaways!

Hey everyone! I was recently on FACEBOOK and saw my Aunt posted about MRS. DASH GIVEAWAYS! I signed up to receive a free sample because my parents LOVE to cook. If you have a Facebook account, go to Mrs. Dash's Facebook page and fill out the info. You can sign up to receive a free sample giveaway! Sign up quick! 

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Cannoli Cups!


After I learned how to make Cream Horns at my tech school, I really wanted to make cannolis which the cream horns reminded me of. I didn't have any tube molds to make cannolis so I made them into cups instead. I used the Pilsburry Pie dough to make the actualy cup. I cut them into circles and then put them into cupcake pans. In the cupcake pans, they still looked like cups because they were domed inward. Then I made the cheese filling with Ricotta Cheese and sugar and topped the top with Chocolate Chips. I made them a second time for my cousin's birthday party and found that using the really tiny mini chocolate chips worked so much better! This was a popular dessert at the party. You should try them! http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/mini-cannoli-cream-pastry-cups/1af25fee-41ee-4299-a0f0-db82e3eb707d

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Fall Cake



Happy 50th Anniversary!


Strawberry Milkshake Cupcakes

Senior Project! Another one of my senior project cupcakes was the Strawberry Milkshake Cupcake. These were pretty popular at the Expo as well! I was very pleased. It's basically a vanilla cupcake with strawberry yogurt in the center, topped whipped topping and a halved strawberry. Very light for summer too! Check them out!...http://serendipitymommy.com/cooking/strawberry-milkshake-whoppers-cupcakes/





Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes

Senior Project! Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes! Although these cupcakes were popular at my senior expo (which is when parents and teachers walk around the school to everyone's projects) they weren't what I expected. The coke soda flavor didn't really appear in the cupcake which was sort of a disappointment because that's what I was really waiting for. Overall, I was please with them and they were yummy! I got the recipe from...http://annies-eats.com/2009/08/19/cherry-coke-cupcakes/