Japanese Slipper Cupcakes

This month's Baking with Spirit Challenge over at Cake of the Week is Midori.  Well, um...Let me see.  Midori.  Never tried it and not in the BIWB liquor cabinet.  What to do?

First, immediately go to BevMo, get a bottle and taste it.  Check.

Second, search the Midori web site for cocktail and recipe ideas.  Check.

Third, pick a cocktail that seems fun and feminine.  Japanese Slipper.  Check.  {Please note: Midori has no baking recipes.  That had me a bit scared.}

Fourth, search the internet for baking recipes using the Japanese Slipper as inspiration.  Check.

So, believe it or not, there is only ONE recipe on the web that I could find for a Japanese Slipper Cupcake.  The Lone Baker.  Nice name, killer photo.

Once I had the idea and a good graphic, I set to work creating a solid recipe that I thought would bring out the 3 flavors of this cocktail: Midori, orange (Triple Sec) and lemon.  I knew that baking with Midori might be tough, so I decided to just use it in the frosting.  That left the cupcake to be the showcase for the orange and lemon flavors, with the addition of Triple Sec of course.  

Found my cupcake recipe "base" on Paula Deen's website.  I know...Think what you like.  But, you have to admit, she does have some very good recipes.  I needed something to bring out the citrus flavors and hold up with the Triple Sec.  Check.

Scored on her recipe for an orange creamsicle cupcake that infuses the citrus zest into the sugar.  Great technique and something I will bring to all my citrus baked goods.  

And, I will tell you, this Midori Seven Minute Frosting has changed my life.  

I had no idea this frosting was so easy and so delicious.  We never had this when I was a kid because we didn't have a stand mixer and there was no way my mom was going to stand with a hand mixer for 7 minutes.  Lower in fat, too, than buttercream frosting.  A good thing!

Thank god for my Kitchen Aid mixer, Bella!  And, now I also have no fear of my future with Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  

These are a shocking light green color and I love the pop of orange in the liners and sprinkles on top.  Super moist and so full of citrus flavors.  A very nice cupcake version of the Japanese Slipper Cocktail.  Super festive, too!!

And, please check out all the other Midori-inspired baked creations this month at Cake of the Week.

Enjoy!

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Limoncello Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies

Pillowy lemon cookie sandwiched with luscious tart raspberry filling...Yes, I died and went to heaven.  I never knew a sandwich cookie could be this easy and this decadent. 

The pudding in the cookie helps keep them soft and adds richness.  The raspberry filling is kicked up a few notches with the addition of raspberry puree and Frambroise.  We wouldn't be bakin' it with booze, otherwise!

An elegant cookie, yet so easy to pull together.  Heaven.

This recipe is from my super creative and ever imaginative blogger buddy, Dorothy at Crazy for Crust.  She comes up with some very special treats like...Avocado Frosting, Cherry Icee Cupcakes, Cakeball Cookies and PB&J Tart.  She also runs a weekly party, Crazy Sweet Tuesday, where lots and lots of food bloggers show their creative wares.  Her Whatever Friday features a weekly wrap-up of her recipes and what's happened in her life.  She is The Iron Blogger!  :)

I've learned so much from Dorothy and thankful that I met her in blogger land...

Please check out Dorothy's blog when you can...You won't be disappointed.  Ever. 

Creamy lemony cookies with tart raspberry centers. 

Heaven. 

I'm sharing this over at Cake of the Week's Baking with Spirit Challenge for May: Limoncello! 

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Lemon and Blueberry Gin Loaf Cake

 Lemon and Blueberry Gin...Doesn't that just *RING* with the sound of an amazing cocktail?! Too?  This recipe is from Erica's Sweet Tooth, a very cute blog hosted by Erica who makes super adorable and yummy things.  I covet her photos and ability to make everything look just like it tastes: Delicious!  The Blueberry-infused gin idea originates from Post Prohibition a very stylin' and hip web site embracing the concept of traditional cocktails plus much more. 

Gin is made from distilling grain alcohol with juniper berries and has lots of flavor profiles.  And, once again, I was exceedingly happy to learn that 11th century ITALIAN monks first mixed juniper berries with crude distillates.  This concoction was even used as a remedy during the Black Death.  Gin has a very long and interesting history including bathtub gin made for the speakeasies during Prohibition.  I'm pretty sure that's when my grandmother, Bambi, gained her pension for Sloe Gin Fizz....

If you are a gin drinker, I am sure you know all the subtleties of gin: fruit and citrus palates, sloe gin versus London dry gin, country of origin, and favorite cocktail.  What I bet you don't know is that there are very, very few (if any) baked goods which call for gin.  Let's just say, I had to get creative...Lord knows I wasn't EVER going to drink this stuff.  And, as gin is flavored with berries, blueberries and gin just seem to go together.

This *EASY* and *SUPER DUPER MOIST* loaf cake is so luscious, I may just have a Nigella moment and pull out the thesaurus to find more words!  Plumb, juicy and sweet blueberries surrounded by tart and tangy lemon yogurt cake...With just a subtle hint of gin in the cake and in the syrup that wraps its arms around this cake.  Perfect for breakfast.  Lunch.  Dinner.  You decide.

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Limoncello Pound Cake

Limoncello pound cake

I am on a mission to make a (successful) lemon meringue pie...Wait, what? This post is supposed to be about limoncello pound cake! Yes, yes it is. Bear with me here.

So, lemon meringue is my all-time favorite kind of pie - and I really, really love just about any kind of pie. I made a gorgeous lemon meringue pie last summer, and followed the directions precisely, but the darn pie never set. It was a beautiful lemon meringue soup, which I ended up spilling all over the driveway, my shoes, and my dog as I struggled to carry way too many things to the car. I was horrified and traumatized and haven't been able to summon the nerve to try again - until now. Armed and dangerous with a brand new recipe, I set upon my task. The pie did, indeed set, but I decided the recipe was awful. Again, it looked gorgeous, but it wasn't nearly lemony enough for my taste. So the search continues for the perfect lemon meringue pie recipe. I'm determined to find it! I did find, on this particular afternoon, a good way to use up the extra egg yolks I had left over from my lemon meringue pie mission. And that brings us to this lovely, bright, lemony limoncello pound cake.

Limoncello Sugar Cookies

Are you ready for the Easter Bunny?

Light and lemony and a little bit of Spring!

 

The Easter Bunny hasn't been at my house in YEARS, but I still love this holiday.  And, if you really think about it, Easter is the mid-point between Halloweens.  Better than Christmas because there is no big crazy shopping frenzy.  Plus, it really is what it's all about in terms of Christianity, right?  With no rise, there would be no need for Christmas.  All the more reason to celebrate the coming of Spring and The Bunny!

In case you haven't notice, I have this fascination with almost anything Italian...Food, clothes, jewelry, landscapes, art, wine...And, Limoncello.   I first discovered baking with Limoncello when Jacqueline made these cupcakes and I made this cake.  All good.  All Limoncello.  Makes a killer lemon drop BTW...Just sayin'. 

So, with the coming of Spring and the ~still~ abundant California lemon crop, I decided to make the Italian liqueur version of my favorite sugar cookie recipe.  Same great recipe, new and refreshing lemony twist!

And, as you can see, I like the rustic-Italian look to my frosted sugar cookies...
We all know that Italians LOVE sprinkles!

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Limoncello-Lemon Upside Down Cake

Your Daily Dose of Vitamin C in a Cake!

Lemons are every where right now, on the trees, in stores, in cocktails, and on baking blogs.  This recipe comes from two sources: Nestle® and A Girl and Her Fork, a fellow Sactown blogger.  I used the basis for the cake from the Nestle® pound cake recipe and the upside down part from inspiration from AGAHF's recent post for Meyer Lemon Upside Down Cake.  This cake was moist and lemony.  I liked the punch of the Limoncello which added a depth of flavor to the lemons on the top.  This was my go-to breakfast all week. 

Lemon Thumbprint Cookies with Cassis-Laced Raspberry Jam

What is Cassis, or creme de cassis, anyway?  There was no ingredient list on the bottle.  I found this explanation via the web, my new source for all things baking related.  It's made of the juice of blackcurrants*, or in Latin: Ribes nigrum.  Blackcurrants are berries, right?  I'll let you read about all the hoity-toity French pedigree of blackcurrants.  And, yes, it's "blackcurrant" and not "black currant."

I found this recipe looking for cupcake recipes on the FoodNetwork.  Huh?  It's a cookie called Raspberry Lemon Thumbprint Cookies.  From Emeril Lagasse, the "BAM Man."  It called for Chambord or kirsch, neither of which I had.  I didn't want to buy more booze.  This recipe only called for a bit, and driving to the store and purchasing it just wasn't in the cards at 7am on a Saturday morning.  No company, no shower, just me and the cat.  Nuf said.

So, I embraced the Jacqueline mantra: Substitution is Key.  And, then I proceeded with cassis!