Lemon Cupcakes with Meringue Frosting

While I was home, mom and I baked a few different things! We tried s'mores cupcakes, which were..not as good as they sound, in my opinion. I'm not going to blog about them. But I AM going to blog about the best cupcakes on the planet: These lemon cupcakes!

The cupcakes were filled with lemon curd, and then topped with meringue, which we toasted with the kitchen torch that mom got for Christmas. She got one from me and one from dad, and we liked the one he bought more..but still!
Mom asked me to rate these on a scale from 1-10. I gave them a 9/10 at first, and then decided that no, these were a 10/10. The perfect cupcake.

They're lemony without being over-the-top sour. There's also no actual frosting, so it doesn't suffer from too-sweet-frosting syndrome either! The lemon curd in the middle is enough to give the cupcake a little 'pop', while being balanced with the meringue.

Getting torched!

I regret only eating one and a half. She took them to work the next day, and they were gone. Gooone gone gone... I want more now!

We had a hard time finding the lemon curd, but I found it in the grocery store aisle where they have jelly and jam! So if you're looking for it, look there.

Lemon Cupcakes Recipe

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 package instant lemon pudding
• 1 c sour cream
• 3/4 c veggie oil
• 3/4 c water
• 4 eggs
• 1 container lemon curd

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix everything but the lemon curd in an electric mixer on medium for two minutes.
• Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full, and bake 15-18 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• Core cupcakes, and fill with lemon curd. Use the cores of the cupcakes as caps to fill the hole.

Lemon Meringue Recipe

• 8 large egg whites
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 1/3 c sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• Pinch of salt

Preparation

• Bring 1-2" of water to boil in a saucepan.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk ingredients well. Place above the boiling water.
• Continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch, and sugar is dissolved, around 2-3 minutes.
• Move to stand mixer if available, and using the whisk attachment, beat at next-to-high speed until it holds a soft peak, around five minutes.
• Pipe onto cupcakes, and toast lightly with a kitchen torch if available.

Brown Bag Biscuits

My dad is off on a hunting trip, and as my mom says.. "While the cat's away, the mice can watch as much Harry Potter as they want!" So that's what we've been doing!

Last night we had giant, frozen strawberry daiquiris and watched Harry Potter and Despicable Me! And this morning, more Harry Potter. We also had bacon, eggs, and brown bag biscuits!

I haven't eaten these since junior high. They were one of the very first things that I learned to bake on my own!
While they're -called- brown bag biscuits, I didn't actually use a brown bag. That just spells a mess for me! But "bowl biscuits" isn't as catchy.

I always forget how much I love these until I make them. They remind me of monkey bread, but they're much less sticky. They're easier to make and eat, too. And, personally, I find them tastier.
The most important part of the recipe, to take a page from Paula Deen's book, is not to run short on the butter! You dip the biscuits in it, but you also pour the remaining butter over the biscuits before baking, so don't skimp.

You can serve these on a plate like I have in the picture, but...c'mon. They're so much better right out of the pan, where they can sit and soak in the butter!

Brown Bag Biscuit Recipe

• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 + 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/4 t allspice
• 1/4 t ginger
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 container of biscuits

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400
• Spray a 9x9 cake pan well with Pam.
• In a small bowl, melt the butter.
• In a medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.
• Cut the biscuits in 1/2 if small biscuits, or 1/4 if larger biscuits.
• Dip the biscuit pieces in butter, then drop into the bowl with the spices. Coat well.
• Line pieces up in a single layer in the cake pan as you go.
• Once finished, sprinkle the remaining spices over the biscuits, then drizzle remaining butter.
• Bake 10-12 minutes, until brown, or when the center biscuit is done.
• Note: You can serve these on a plate as I've done in the picture, but they're better right out of the pan, where they get to sit and soak up the extra butter!

Red Velvet Cookies

Being back home for so long, I thought it'd be nice to bake some cookies for everyone at my job here! I didn't want to make anything too difficult or too time consuming though, so I baked one of my old recipes: Cake mix cookies.
This time, I went for red velvet cake! With cream cheese frosting, these were a very decadent little dessert.

...Hm. My brain is a little on the tired side, so that's all I can think to say about these!
I can say though, that you can either roll these out and cut them into shapes, or drop them onto the pan by 1/2 tbsp full. What I did was scoop them with the 1/2 tbsp, then roll that into a nice ball.

Then I used the back of a spoon and pressed them down so they were about 1/4" thick.
Red Velvet Cookie Recipe

• One box red velvet cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c vegetable oil

Preparation

• Beat together cake mix, eggs, and vegetable oil. Scrape sides/bottom of bowl often, until everything is incorporated.
• Roll into a log and wrap with cling wrap, and refrigerate for an hour.
• Cut slices to bake, or roll out and cut out shapes, or scoop dough with a 1/2tbsp spoon.. however you want to form these, do it!
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to firm.
• Cool completely, then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 2 - 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

• Cream together cream cheese and butter.
• Beat in vanilla, and then gradually add in powdered sugar.
• Note: I like my cream cheese frosting less sweet than some, so add powdered sugar to taste.
• Frost cookies!

Dumplin's

This isn't a baking entry; this is a cooking entry! Whoa!
But it's not REALLY cooking, so..it's okay.
These are "dumplins", NOT "dumplings." That's just way too formal. I'm talking "we gotta cook up some dumplins" here! And this recipe is for chicken/turkey based dumplins, but you can use beef stock/juices instead.
My dad grew up eating these, but I consider them a special treat. I'd never even made them before today! It was actually really fun making them. You have to make sure that the liquid is hot enough, because it helps bind the ingredients and draws them off of the spoon.
Dumplins are cheap, easy, and sooo tasty. And they're so good dipped in ketchup!

Dumplins Recipe

• 2 cups flour
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c milk
• 2 containers chicken stock (not broth)
• Optional:
• If you decide to cook a chicken or turkey, you can use the leftover juice with the chicken stock! Dumplins are a good "day after" meal, for if you have chicken or turkey!

Preparation

• Put the chicken stock (and optional chicken/turkey juice) in a large pan. Bring to a rolling boil.
• Put the eggs in a large bowl. Break the yolks and stir to combine.
• Add in the flour and milk, and FOLD together with the egg.
• NOTE: Rough stirring will add too much air, which will make them large and flat. Hence folding!
• NOTE: The mix will be thick, like a heavy dough. You want it this way!
• Turn the stock down to medium-low. Scoop about 3/4 spoonful of the mix and dip in the mixture. When hot enough, the stock will draw it off of the spoon.
• Repeat until the bowl is empty of mix. Cook dumplins for 10 minutes minimum.
• After 10 minutes, cut one open to make sure it's done inside.
• Serve as a side or as a meal, with or without ketchup!

Spritz Cookies

Phew! Finals are over, I'm waiting for grades to be posted, and it's so close to Christmas that I'm frolicking everywhere.

And I thought, what better treat to make to celebrate the holidays than spritz cookies??

I Googled "Best spritz cookie recipe" and this is the one I found. Now, I like mine more buttery and sweet, and these are a little more tangy, so there's your warning. They're still delicious, but in a different way.
I got my roommate to help me, too! She bought me the spritz gun (as I so lovingly call it) for my birthday, but I haven't used it until now. It's so fun! This recipe is made for use with a cookie press (gun) and it makes a looot of cookies.
I did three different designs, and used three different sprinkle colors. The trees got green, the roundish ones got blue, and the.. diamond ones..? got red! Very festive.

The recipe online said to cook them for 10-12 minutes, but when I cooked by first batch for 10, it burned. I was so sad! I burnt a whole tray of trees. So I suggest starting at 6 minutes, and then going from there.

Best. Roommates. Ever.

Spritz Cookie Recipe

• 1 cup butter-flavored shortening
• 1- 3oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• Sprinkles for looks

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• In a medium bowl, cream together shortening, cream cheese, and sugar.
• Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, and orange zest. Beat until light and fluffy.
• Beat in salt and cinnamon, then gradually add flour. Mix until well-combined.
• Choose the design you want, fill the tube of the cookie press, and form your cookies on an ungreased, un-parchment-papered cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with sprinkles (Crazy!) before putting in oven.
• Bake 6-8 minutes, removing when edges just begin to turn golden brown.
• Remove from pan as soon as you can, letting them cool on a cooling rack instead.

Delay

FINALS WEEK! AHHHHH!

All that means is that I'm not baking yet this week.
But I'm going to make spritz cookies after this is all done, so you have that to look forward to!

Brownie Bites

My writing group had a holiday party on Monday, so I (obviously) decided to make some treats!
I did the cinnamon pinwheels that I love so much, but also made brownie bites and a chocolate buttercream to go on top!
It was the frosting that made these things! The brownie was your typical brownie, and the frosting was your typical chocolate frosting, but together.. I may start drooling just typing this up!
These can either be really good for you, or really bad. You can grab one and it's rich enough for you to be able to walk away. But then..you might walk back a dozen times to get more.
Brownie Bite Recipe

• One package box brownie mix
• Eggs (varies)
• Vegetable oil (varies)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix brownies according to directions on back of box.
• Grease a mini-muffin pan, fill 3/4 way full with brownie mix.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, and check with a toothpick. Be careful not to overcook, because they'll become dry and crumble.
• Let them completely cool before removing them from the pan.

Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

• 11 tbsp butter (1 stick + 3 tbsp), softened
• 1 - 2lb bag powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 c milk
• 3 tbsp cocoa

Preparation

• Combine butter, vanilla, salt, 3/4 of the powdered sugar and 3/4 of the milk.
• Blend until well combined, adding more powdered sugar or more milk when needed.
• Once you reach the consistency you desire, add in 3 tbsp cocoa (mix on low speed to avoid cocoa-fying your clothes!)