Wordless Wednesday - Life of a Cupcake

White Cake cupcakes, filled with Lemon Curd and topped with toasted 7 minute frosting

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Got Curd? - Lemon Curd

I just realized, when making cupcakes for Easter, that I have never posted my Lemon Curd recipe.  This kind of surprised me a little, cause I make it all the time.  But sure enough, I've covered Meyer Lemon Curd, Caramel Blood Orange Curd, and Key Lime Curd.  But alas, not a peep regarding regular good old simple Lemon Curd.  Lemme tell ya, there ain't nothin' better on a scone.  Well, except maybe Blood Orange Marmalade.  But that is another post.

So, in the interest of covering all the bases; here is my Lemon Curd recipe (cause the proportions are a little different than the Meyer Lemon one)

Lemon Curd

4 oz unsalted Butter, melted
1 cup Granulated Sugar
2 large Eggs Whites
2 tsp Lemon Zest
3/4 cup Lemon Juice
pinch of Salt
6 large Egg Yolks


Melt the butter in a bowl over simmering water and set aside to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl place Sugar, Lemon Zest, Lemon Juice, Egg Whites and Salt.

Place the 6 Egg Yolks into the bowl of cooled melted butter.

Whisk the ingredients in both bowls until homogeneous.

 Add the Yolk/Butter mixture to the Sugar/Lemon and whisk until well combined.

Place the bowl over simmering water.

Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 172F (78C) degrees, or until it thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Strain through fine mesh into a clean bowl, to stop cooking and remove the spent zest or any egg specks.

Cover on the surface with plastic, to prevent any crusting, and leave to cool to room temperature before refrigerating.

Once completely chilled, serve with scones, crumpets or fill your cupcakes with it ;)

Mangia!!
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When Life Gives You Lemons - Lemon Swiss Meringue Pie

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving and we only had 2 pies.  Mom made a Huckleberry Tart, and I had made a Pumpkin Chiffon.  OH, HECK NO! not in this pie-centric family.  That's a recipe for disaster. A Pie-mergency, a Pie-tastrophy, A-pie-calypes Now!! So, I threw together my version of Lemon Meringue Pie.

Lemon Meringue is one of those weird pies.  It's really simple, but really difficult at the same time.  Then again, I tend to make things difficult for myself all the time.  It's just my nature.  I have never been happy with a raw French Meringue on my Lemon pie. (just beating sugar and egg whites to stiff peaks)  It shrinks, it weeps, it separates from the lemon filling and has a slightly funny texture to me.   I much prefer the smooth and somewhat velvety texture of a Swiss Meringue.   Thus the difficult part of the pie making process. 

You will see what I am talking about as I go through this recipe. 

Lemon Swiss Meringue Pie

1/2 recipe Pâte Brisée, pre-baked in a 9-inch pie plate 
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 cups Water
1/3 cup Cornstarch (I actually prefer Arrowroot Powder, but I was out)
1/3 cup Water
4 large Eggs, Separated
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1 TB Butter
Zest of 1/2 a Lemon
2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 tsp Cream of Tarter

OK, so you need to have a pre-baked (not par-baked) 9-inch pie shell.

In a saucepan, combine 3/4 cup Sugar and 1 1/2 cups Water, then set it over medium flame.

Bring this to a boil.

In the meantime, combine 1/3 cup Water with 1/3 cup Cornstarch in a small pitcher, mixing well to form a slurry; then set aside.

Separate the eggs, setting the whites aside for later, and beat the yolks.

Squeeze the lemons and add the juice to the yolks, stirring well to combine.

By now the Sugar/Water mixture should be boiling, so add the cornstarch, whisking constantly.

Continue whisking until the mixture bubbles and is clear.

Remove the mixture from the heat and add the Lemon/Egg Yolk mixture, again, whisking constantly.

Return the saucepan to the heat and continue stirring and cooking until it begins to bubble again.

Remove from the heat again and stir in the Butter and the Lemon Zest.

Pour into the pre-baked Pie shell.

OK, now that was the easiest part... Now for the fun part.

Preheat the oven to 325F degrees.
Place a saucepan of water on high heat and bring to a simmer.
Place the Egg Whites in a heat safe bowl, and add the 2/3 cup Sugar and the Cream of Tarter.

Set the bowl over the simmering water and begin whisking until the sugar dissolves.
Once the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites begin to get foamy, grab a temperature gauge and continue whisking and cooking until it reaches 145 F (62 C) degrees.

Remove the bowl from the simmering water and pour the contents into your stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment.

Now is the time to "put the spurs" to the Egg Whites.  (Whip them until they cool and form stiff peaks)

Spread the Swiss meringue all over the warm filling (the hotter the lemon filling, the better the adhesion) being sure to seal the meringue down to the crust edge.

I like to make mine all spiky looking.

Place the entire pie in the oven for about 20 minutes (or longer if you like darker tips)

Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

There you have it, a simple recipe made more difficult by yours truly.  :)

Incidentally, Lemon Meringue Pie should NEVER be placed in the refrigerator.  I don't care what type of Meringue you make, French, Italian or Swiss, the damp air of the refrigerator will make Meringue weep.  (as you can see on the slice above, after it spent 6 hours in the refrigerator)  Lemon Meringue pie is really meant to be eaten within 4 hours of making it. 

Look at it this way, everything is cooked at this point, the Egg Yolk were cooked when making the filling, the Egg Whites were actually cooked twice. Once to 145 degrees and then again in the oven when browned.  There is plenty of sugar and/or acid in both parts to arrest any bacteria growth for at least that long.  So keep it at room temperature and consume fairly quickly.  :)

Happy ThanksGiving to all, and to all a Good Appetite!
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A Whole Lotta Crostata

I love Jam. I swear preserves are one of the greatest achievements of mankind. There is just something awesome about fruit smeared over toast, croissant or crumpet. There is only one problem with this delicious innovation. Due to my slightly obsessive behavior, OK, forget the slightly... My refrigerator tends to accumulate an excessive amount of 'Jars du Jam'. When I can no longer open the door without a plethora of crashing glass, it is time to clean house. The fastest way I know to eliminate a mound of marmalade, is to bake Crostata.

Crostata is a delicious free form jam tart from Italy. Wonderfully simple, charmingly rustic and absolutely delicious. I'm crazy about them. (Much to the relief of my refrigerator) Thus is was, this evening, that I cleaned out the reminants of 5 Jams... On the list this evening was the last of what had been my frozen Meyer Lemon Curd as well as the disturbingly green Key Lime Curd from a couple months ago. These were closely followed by some Swedish Cranberry, Black Currant Jelly and Strawberry. I am now Jam free, which leaves plenty more room for any new and interesting preserves I... er, um... OK, maybe I will hold off ---- for just a little while.

Crostata

1 recipe Pâte Brisée
Jam, Marmalade, Jelly or Curd of your choosing
1 large egg or egg white ; well beaten (whole egg produced more golden color, white alone produces shine)
Sanding Sugar or Demerara sugar

First prepare the Pâte Brisée.
Once the dough can be gathered together, cut into eight pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap; chill for 30 mintues.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove 1 pasty ball and turn out onto a floured surface

Roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. (it doesn't have to be a perfect circle, this is rustic)

Spread about 2-3 TB of Jam/Jelly/Marmalade/Curd in the center using an offset spatula; leaving a 1/2 to 3/4 inch boarder for folding.

Begin folding the edges over, allowing them to wrinkle as you are going.

Move to a parchment lined baking sheet (I use 2 spatulas)

Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and brush with egg or egg white.

Sprinkle the edge with Sanding or Demerara sugar.

Return to the oven for 12-15 minutes.
Move to a rack to cool completely, cause hot jam REALLY burns.


And there you have it...
Key Lime and Meyer Lemon Curd

Top left - Strawberry; Top right and Bottom left - Swedish Cranberry; Bottom right - Black Currant.

Mangia!!
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