Orange Marmalade Cupcakes with Marmalade Vanilla Buttercream

Oh my gosh someone please tell Taco Bell they are no longer welcome in my neighborhood, the draw is just to great.  I can't make it past without that darn Cheesy Gordita 590 calorie crunch calling my name, let's face it I'm not just eating one.



Some things are just to great to resist, some things are little and some things are big like say...having a baby when your life is just settled down from the wrench the first one threw into it.  What are some other life draws?  Well I can only speak for myself but.




1.  New furniture.  Basically if you are not prepared to spend the cash, don't think you can just casually go price out furniture.  I have no will power, and as you can see in my pictures below...I am the proud owner of a new dining table.  It's so big that it can hold 10 people and 1,000 lbs of old mail that we will never end up going through.. Don't act like you don't have a pile of mail you're going to shred...in 10 years...maybe.



2.  Another big draw in life..wine, beer, martini's?  Why is it that you forget how hard it it to operate at 6am in the morning after you toss back a few?  It takes me about 1 month to forget that 1 drink is as far as I should push it, but now that Game of Thrones is back on I'm a suffering mom come Monday morning.  Moral of the story, suffering is part of life so deal with it, at least while Game of Thrones is on.




3.  Cupcakes, Coffee, Chocolate, Cheesy Gordita Crunches - Calories in general.

4.  Your Momma, that's right your momma is a big draw.  Sorry I couldn't resist an opportunity for a your momma joke.




INGREDIENTS (Cupcakes)

1.5 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cups granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup of orange marmalade (leave 3 tbs from jar for butter cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1.5 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt




INGREDIENTS (Marmalade Vanilla Butter Cream)

1 stick of butter
1/4 tsp table salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 tbs Orange Marmalade
* if frosting is too stiff for your liking, beat in cream/milk/half & half



DIRECTIONS (Cupcakes/Butter cream)

You will need to pre-heat oven to 350; in a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until nicely mixed. Add in your eggs and all extracts and mix again until combined. Last step is the marmalade, mix into your batter. In another bowl sift your flour and then add in your baking power and salt; combine this bowl with the batter and mix well. Cook at 350 for 15-25 minutes or until cooked through.

For the frosting, beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 3 tablespoons of marmalade.

Frost those puppies and enjoy.

Strawberry Breakfast Cake

I'm calling this Strawberry Breakfast Cake because well...I ate it for breakfast all week long.  So basically if you choose to eat something that you shouldn't, at a time of day when you normally wouldn't - you have my full permission to name it any darn thing you want.

Do you need examples?  You know I'm a teacher at heart so I'd love to school you.




Example Number One - Suppose you're sitting back enjoying Up All Night, slowly sipping a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and decide that the perfect thing to pair it with is 17 Dove White Chocolates (just as an example of course).  Well I would choose to call those white chocolates "White Chocolate Wine Buddies", and what the heck else would you do with something called White Chocolate Wine buddies then enjoy them with some evening time wine? 




Example Two - So you have just made your 5th trip up to your childs room hoping to have her understand that she's there because kicking her dad 5 times in the shins is plain old wrong...unless of course he forgets to do the dishes etc.  So you've been up there 5 times, and quite frankly you will be hiking up there at laest 5 more so you decide to eat a heaping bowl of goldfish.  What do we call these Goldfish, well I call them "Too bad so sad Indigo, I'm eating all your Goldfish - Goldfish".  Serves her right!

So I think we now have an understanding, name your food the proper name and you can eat them whenever you want.

Lesson over.

Ingredients

Delightfully borrowed from Martha Stewart
{Printable Recipe}

Cake (I halved the recipe, serves 8)

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray, for cake pans
• 2 packages Strawberries, hulled and cut into cubes                                      
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Crumb Topping

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center position. Coat two 9-inch square cake pans with cooking spray, and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Stir together Strawberry and 1 cup sugar; set aside to macerate.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter, remaining cup sugar, and the lemon zest until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then beat in vanilla. Beat in flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
3. Crumb topping: Stir together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Add melted butter; stir to combine.
4. Divide batter between pans. Top with Strawberry mixture, and sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake until golden on top and cooked through, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks, then lift cakes from pans using parchment. Remove parchment. Before serving, cut buckle into 2-inch squares.

Lemon Meringue Pie

What do you do when your 3 year old almost breaks through 2 security doors at her daycare sending the whole place into a frenzy?  What do you do when your 3 year old tries to bite one of her most beloved teachers?  What do you do when your 3 year old starts spitting on the ground in a grand show of defiance?




I have no idea what you do, I can however tell you what doesn't stop those things from happening.  Giving in to every want your toddler has so that she feels extra snugly with the arrival of her new brother, nahhhhh - totally doesn't work.

Promising chocolates, cookies, cakes etc...nahhhhh - skip it.  Buying her a new Bike, Barbie, and or Bambi Part Deux - triple skip it.  Basically what I'm trying to say is you can't buy a toddlers love and understanding, basically they will rub it all in your face that you are not in control of well - ANYTHING.



Ingredients
Delightfully borrowed from AllRecipes
(Printable Recipe)

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Argo® OR Kingsford's® Corn Starch
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 baked (9-inch) pie crust (I added in 3 tbs of white sugar to the dough)
• 4 egg whites
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine 1 cup sugar and corn starch in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Stir in egg yolks. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon peel, lemon juice and butter. Spoon hot filling into pie crust.

               

Beat egg whites in small bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually beat in remaining 1/3 cup sugar; continue beating until stiff peaks form.  Spread meringue evenly over hot filling, sealing to edge of crust.           

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack at room temperature for 30 minutes; refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

Chocolate Chip & Banana Muffins

Today I did it.
Today I really held my own.
Today is monumental for one reason.
Today...Today I did not eat chocolate until 716pm PST.




Once you have your baby you might still be in "I can eat whatever I want because I'm eating for two mode."  I find myself here daily.  Not only are you still in that mode of thinking but you are also thinking "whoa is me and I deserve to eat whatever I want mode."



You can now see how this becomes quite dangerous to the figure..and quite dangerous to you ever fitting back into the pants you wore before you became pregnant.  So what has been calling my name lately?  Glad you asked, well it's chocolate baby.  I'm not picky either, and the hubster brought home two bags of Dove Chocolates.



Also you might have noticed but the Easter Bunny was here over the weekend and that little creature left way to many things for me to sample...umm I mean he left way to many things for Indigo and the baby, and moms have to taste test...DUH.



INGREDIENTS
Adapted from AllRecipes
(Printable Recipe)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 Mashed Banana's

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, sour cream and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Lemon Tart

I don't want to brag or anything, but I made this tart while dilating from 1 centimeter to 9 1/2 centimeters.  I told you I would, and I totally did.  Let me also tell you that coming home from the hospital to a nice lemony tart to snack on = HEAVEN.



So basically the last 9 days or so have consisted of me ravenously working my way through this tart and the pantry...and let me tell you, we stocked that thing full of healthy foods. Yes my nose is growing...along with my butt.

Speaking of butts, Indigo...no I'm not calling her a butt ....but Indigo cannot sit down for 5 seconds at this point and I think that the reason could weigh in at a lofty 8 1/2 pounds, been born 9 days ago, and call himself Desmond aka Mr. Squeak.

 

Yes I am the mom that thought my kid would be different and behave perfectly. Yes I am the mom who has to eat her words.

Wait - forget about eating my words, I'm going for another slice of tart. 



INGREDIENTS
Delightfully borrowed from Simply Recipes

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, or 1/4 pound) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Lemon curd:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

DIRECTIONS Crust:

Combine flour, salt, butter, and sugar in a bowl. Use a potato masher to cut the butter into the flour until the dough forms flaky crumbs and lumps or just mix with your fingers. With a wooden spoon, mix in the egg, almond extract, and lemon juice. Continue to mix until the dough clumps. Shape into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, refrigerate at least an hour.

Pre-Heat oven to 350. Let the dough sit at temperature for at least 10-15 minutes.  Roll out the disk between two sheets of parchment paper (or wax paper), to a circle 2 inches larger in diameter than your tart pan.

Press the dough into the tart pan. Use your rolling pin to level the dough along the edges of the pan. Place aluminum foil over the foil and gently mold it to the dough in the pan. Add pie weights or dried beans into foil lined tart pan  Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

DIRECTIONS Lemon curd:

Melt butter and cream together over a double boiler, stirring to combine. Remove top pan from heat and set aside.

In a bowl over a double boiler, whisk the eggs and egg yolks just long enough to warm them. Remove from heat and beat in the butter mixture, then the lemon juice. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl and place over the simmering water. Add the sugar and zest and whisk until warm.

Pour the lemon curd into the crust and bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or until set in the middle. Let cool on a rack. Chill in the refrigerator.