TWD: Limoncello Cupcakes

My colleague has relatives in Sicily and goes there two or three times a year. Last autumn he brought back so many lemons that he made tons and gallons of marmelade and limoncello. The best limoncello you can imagine! I got a bottle from him and almost everything is gone, but some tablespoons where left - just enough for these Limoncello Cupcakes.

They are gorgeous. They are great. I followed the recipe as written and ended up with 18 cupcakes. There could have been more frosting for topping them more excessively. But they are also pretty like that - and honestly spoken: I am not such a big fan of cupcakes as I don't like the excessive buttercream on top. So - for me the amount of topping was perfect, but if you like little mountains of frosting you should raise the quantity.

Not much more to say about it. They taste great (at least if you are into lemon-taste). It was my first time I piped some frosting (usually I only spread it) and for my first attempt I am pretty happy with the result.

For the recipe, have a look at Dorie Greenspans book "Baking chez moi" on p 194. And to find out if the rest of the group did like it as much as me - have a look here!

TWD: Lemon Loaf Cake

Oh this was great! And as so often - the ones that sound least appealing to you are often the best recipes.
It was not really "not appelaing" to me but it did sound kind of boaring. Lemon Loaf, ok. But the resulty... yummi!

It was very easy in the making. I slightly reduced the amount of melted butter but kept the rest just as foreseen. Finally I did end up with a very moisty loaf cake, that had a perfect texture - soft, but dense enough to cut slices. And the taste was incredible! Three zested lemons make all the difference to an ordinary loaf cake.

If I were not that lazy I would have made an lemon icing (or white chocolate?) to dress it up. But I am. Lazy.

Because it's so easy and in the end so tasty this is really a keeper. What else can you ask for from a cake?

For the recipe have a look at our TWD-host's pages (Truc of Treats and Michelle of The Beauty of Life - both with wonderful pictures!) or open the book Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan on pp 252/253.

TWD: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Muffins! Haven't made them for ages!
Since I an at ny current job I almost have not time for nothing, so there is barely more baking then my TWD-"duties" in my house. The last time Muffins haven been on the schedule was in back in October 2009, just shortly before I joined the group. Therefore, my last muffin baking is almost a year ago. Unvelievable...

I like poppyseed very much. Poppyseed is something very familiar in the Austrian sweet kitchen. We do a lot with it, not only for dessert, but we also make sweet main-courses with poppyseed.

Did you know that poppysedd doens't exist in the French cuisine? Strange, isn't it? The just don't plant it, therefore they don't use in the kitchen.

Well, so much for the intro, now the main part. I was excited to make muffins but couldn't decide wheather to fill them or not, so I made what I always make, when I am indecisive - I made both.

The first batch came out a bit underdone, although I baked them for about 22 minutes. Nevertheless, some tops broke up and the raspberry jam came out a bit, but I don' think that's any harm (that's the very light couloured ones). The second batch was without filling (these are the little ones in the paper molds). But the third batch, this time filled with strawberry jam, came out perfect in colour and shape.


The one I did taste was just wonderful. The sweet-sour mix in combination with the poppyseed is a wonderful flavour!
Thanks a lot to Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness who did choose Muffins after such a long time and opted for this great recipe. Go to her page for the recipe or have a look at Dorie's book (page 11 and 11).

TWD - Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes

 Ok, I got only some more minutes to go before it turns Wednesday... I had just not a single minute today to post, so, let's make it quick and dirty:
Here it is, my version of a Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cake, which is a rum-drenched lemon-vanilla cake with a bit of orange flavour.

The original recipe can be found on pages 226 and 227 in Dorie Greenspan's book, or on Wendy's homepage "Pink Stripes" who was so wise to opt for this simple but still special cake!

I first thought it is a bit boring, but I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Most of all, it is very moisty, so all the drenching is really worth the (not so much) effort.




(and maybe one day I will learn how to bake minis that do not pop up in the middle, so I can turn them around and they don't look like pegtops...)