NuM NuM

To celebrate my mom's birthday I made her these cute little cupcakes. I love eating my own individual dessert so I thought she'd enjoy these more then getting a regular birthday cake - uhh....apparently we were celebrating my birthday, not hers.

Swiss meringue buttercream and I have never gotten along and today was no different. That was until genius here took a closer look at the list of ingredients and realized it said 6 ounces of butter, not 6 tablespoons - moron! No wonder my frosting mixture was soupy. I made two different batches and tried to fix the freaking frosting for literally two hours until I eventually gave up. And yes, we're referring to it as the "freaking" frosting because after failing miserably - curse words were shouted and I was not a happy baker. The only way I was able to salvage the frosting and make it "semi" pipe-able was to add an entire box of confectioners sugar. Even then it still didn't hold its shape and it too must have become depressed and began to melt. Thank goodness the taste made up for its lackluster appearance because these were good! I mean real GOOD - like the I don't care if my ass gets big kinda good!

The cupcakes were refreshingly light and had the perfect balance of sweet and tart. The raspberry and lemon flavors added to the lightness and sent me to cupcake heaven. I enjoyed these so much I would deem them my new favorite cupcakes. I promise the taste will be like no other you've had before. Coconut milk, lemon, and lemon zest provide the base for the cupcakes and keep them moist, soft, and crumbly. The flavors are very complex but not intense and the taste is just phenomenal. Trust me - you must try these on for size. They make red velvets seem like last season's fad. Run, don't walk - or run but only after you make these - you can thank me later :)


Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil
Makes 11 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup full fat coconut milk (A Taste of Thai, Cocoonut Milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Frosting:
2 ounces (1/4 cup) of fresh raspberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg whites
6 ounces unsalted butter (12 Tbs), at room temperature*
2 tablespoons lemon juice (approximately 1 large lemon)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350?F.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sugar and brown sugar and mix. Whisk together oil, coconut milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth it will still be a bit lumpy - I used the folding method. Fill cupcake liners with a scant 1/4 cup of batter (should be just under 2/3 of the way full). Since I was only able to get 11 cupcakes, I added water to the empty muffin tin. This may have helped add more moisture to the cupcakes. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

To make frosting, first wash raspberries and toss them into a food processor. Puree berries and push them through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and set aside.

Add sugar and egg whites into a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels warm to the touch, about 3 minutes. Poke your finger into the mixture and rub fingers together. If the mixture does not feel grainy that means the sugar is melted. (I've read on another blog it's important to get the temperature of the sugar mixture to 140 degrees to create a stiff frosting - so I may try that next time) Remove the bowl from the heat. Wipe off condensation from bottom of bowl and then put mixture into stand mixer bowl.

Using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until the mixture holds stiff peak and bowl is cool to the touch, about 8 minutes.

Switch to paddle attachment. With the mixer on medium low speed, beat in the butter, one tablespoons at a time. Making sure all butter has been incorporated before adding more. If the mixture separates after all butter has been added, beat on medium high speed for a few more minutes, the buttercream will become glossy and smooth again. Once the buttercream is thick and smooth, gradually beat in the lemon juice, vanilla and raspberry puree on low speed, until well incorporated and frost cupcakes. Or if you are frosting later put the frosting in the fridge.

When ready to use, bring the buttercream to room temperature and rewhisk it either by hand or a mixer to bring it to pipe-able consistency

*Butter should not be too soft. You should be able to make an indentation with your finger in the butter

**Since I did not read the directions properly, I only added 6 tbs of butter and then added a whole box of confectioners sugar to sweeten up the frosting and then about another tbs of lemon juice to balance out the flavors. I'm sure the frosting would actually set up and be pipe-able if you used all 12 tbs of butter. My frosting did not hold its shape very well but the taste was heavenly.