Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Post-wedding, our kitchen is now happily equipped with a stand mixer and a kitchen torch. That means, not only do I no longer need to hand-beat meringue for 15+ minutes (a vigorous exercise, to say the least), I can brûlée things to my heart's content. Everyone likes to play with fire!


This cupcake bursts with flavor with lemon zest and pulp baked into the fluffy cake and lemon curd on top &mdash or optionally, lemon custard filling the center, as shown in the photo above &mdash contrasted with an airy, whipped meringue frosting.

For this cupcake flavor, I highly recommend a lighter cake to match the topping. While Martha Stewart suggests a lemon buttermilk cake, I find that a recipe closer to cakelove's Light and Lemony Cake is less dense and thus more harmonious with the meringue. I think a sponge cake would be delicious as well. Thanks to my friend Ji at cakes by Ji for introducing me to the wonderful world of cakelove!

Milo | A Field Day

Milo is a running back. When he runs, he zig-zags back and forth and yet still somehow manages to dash way ahead of you and out of your reach. Admittedly, his endurance is not great, but we rarely meet a dog that can keep up (or escape his playful pounces) in the short run.



Here, we've caught Milo in action at the park. When he tires out, he sits down, kicks his back leg out like he's decided to plop down on a couch, and refuses to continue on. Then, daddy has to carry him all the way home.



UPDATE: This final picture of Milo at the fountain made it into our vet's upcoming calendar! Milo will be Mr. September 2011.

Ladybug Cupcakes - Meet Martha Stewart

After college, I rediscovered my love for baking cupcakes when I found Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. This is a great starting point for cupcake enthusiasts, as many recipes call for ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen or could easily find at the local supermarket. Anyone who's picked up this book will recognize these Ladybug Cupcakes. They're cute, delicious, fun to make, and guaranteed to make a co-worker or two smile. Invest in a multi-opening piping tip, and purchase either gum paste or marzipan to roll out some ladybugs (marzipan is much easier to dye and work with, not to mention more edible). Although the recipe calls for Swiss Meringue Buttercream, I find that regular buttercream holds the grass blade peaks much better. However, Swiss Meringue Buttercream has a lighter and smoother taste and texture, so that is the trade-off.

Orange Chrysanthemum Cupcakes - Childhood Memories

I have early memories of baking cupcakes with my mom in the kitchen. It was probably Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines or Pillsbury, depending on whatever was on sale. I pushed for Pillsbury, the kind with sprinkles.


My mom's secret was adding orange juice concentrate instead of water to the cake mix. All you need is the frozen can variety of orange juice concentrate, and depending on how strong of a citrus flavor you're looking for, add about one and a half to two cans of water to the concentrate (usually three cans are required for orange juice). Then, measure out the volume of "water" called for by the box instructions. Voilà, your cupcakes now taste like homemade orange coffee cake, and you have an excuse to eat one every day for breakfast! Here, I've piped standard buttercream chrysanthemum flowers on orange flavored yellow cake.

I am so used to this added flavor now that whenever I make ordinary white or yellow cake, it always seems to be missing something . . .

Meet Milo | A Birthday Bonbon

Today is Milo's birthday! Our Coton de Tulear is now one year old, and certainly no longer a puppy. He is now tall enough and feisty enough to stand up and nab his birthday-doggy-donut from the dining table. However, as any parent would say—or in this case, doggie parent—in our eyes, Milo will always be our little baby puppy. (He certainly still acts likes one!)

I promised myself that on Milo's first birthday, I would start this blog. With the demands and stresses of my job, a new geographic location without old friends or any easy way to make new ones, and a loving husband who has been kidnapped by something called medical school, I often feel like I have to seek out and treasure the little things that make me happy. Two of those things, without fail, are Milo and cupcakes (both baking and eating them). With this blog, I hope to keep at least those two loves of my life at the forefront of my mind, so that I always have a reason to smile. Hopefully I can share those smiles with you too.