lemon cupcakes with lemon curd and cream cheese icing

Right. I dont' think I've ever made anything with such a long name, and with more than two elements. I usually stick to a cake base and icing. Nice and simple. That's kind of my thing.

And then I watched an episode of Cupcake Wars.

Talk about mind blowing. Now that show separates the amateurs from the hard core professionals. The creativity that some of these contestants exudes was amazing. The confidence was something else but believe me when I say, they certainly upped the ante of cupcakes. Who would have thought - goats cheese frosting? Baked apple cupcakes? Maple frosting topped with crisp bacon? Salmon cupcakes topped with cream cheese icing and capers?? Yeah, not sure about that last one, but amazingly, the lady that dreamt that creation won.

If anything, when it comes to baking cupcakes, this show has pointed out at how much I still have to learn. Ok, I know what some of you may be thinking. These guys on the show, they're professionals (or at least bake cupcakes for an actual living). But these people all started from somewhere. Probably from their home kitchens. Sweating it over a hand mixer. Or even whisking by hand (I saw a lot of that on the show which really surprised me).

So, as it was, a Thursday night. Late, on a Thursday night. I live with a quiet housemate, in an apartment block of 8. I didn't think a kitchen mixer whizzing up cakes would be a welcome sound at the time of night I actually got my act together so I went hunting for an easy mix cupcake recipe. Viola - I found this lemon cupcake recipe that was originally seen on Junior Masterchef. I was surprised at how quickly it came together and how lovely they turned out. Easy peasy. I did however got the mixer going for the cream cheese icing but hey, with a KitchenAid, hey presto, done in minutes.

So here it is, my first attempt at a cupcake with an extra element (lemon curd in the cakes) and I think it was pretty successful. Maybe not Cupcake Wars material but still, I was pretty happy with the end result. As a market researcher, naturally, I welcomed feedback from my colleagues. I am happy to report that the most negative comment was that they were too small.

lemon cupcakes

1 cup of thickened cream
3/4 cup of caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups of self raising flour
finely grated rind of 1 lemon + its juice

1| Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (160 if fan forced). With the eggs, pour the cream and sugar into a large mixing bowl and whisk until nice and smooth.
2| grate lemon rind over the top and squeeze the lemon to get the juice out.
3| Sift your self raising flour over the bowl and whisk the batter until thick and smooth. The consistency will be like a thick pancake mix.
4| Divide mixture into cupcake cases.
5| Pop into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Don't over bake them - they won't be spongy and moist!

lemon curd

3 egg yolks
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup of lemon juice
6 tablespoons of caster sugar
4 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter cut up

1| Combine the yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk up to combine. Set this over a medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure you stir evenly - don't forget the sides and bottom of the pan. Cook until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (around 5-7 minutes).
2| Take the saucepan off the heat. Add the butter, one piece at a time, continuously stirring with the wooden spoon until the consistency is smooth.
3| Transfer the mixture into a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface (this will help the curd to not form a skin). Let the curd cool, refrigerate until firm and chilled (at least 1 hour).

cream cheese icing

250g cream cheese at room temperature
125g butter at room temperature
icing sugar (about 1 cup, but that depends on how sweet you want it)

1| Get the cream cheese going first. Place it into the bowl of a mixer or using a hand mixer, start the beating.
2| After a couple of minutes, add the butter and whip that up.
3| After a couple of more minutes, add the icing sugar. Use 1 cup first, add more if you want it sweeter. Beat until thick and fluffy.
4| Try not to eat the whole icing out of the bowl. Top cakes with lemon curd with a swirl.

putting it all together

1| Make sure your cupcakes have cooled completely.
2| If you have one of those thin, long piping nozzles that you use for jam or things like lemon curd, load up your piping bag with lemon curd and stick the pointy end in the middle of the cupcake and inject it with lemon curd. Repeat with all the cakes. OR you could just scoop out a bit of cake on top and place a bit of lemon curd in the hole you made. Easy!
3| Admire your work. Then pipe, or spoon or swirl some cream cheese icing on top.
4| Eat until your heart's content, but probably best eaten shared with your friends / family.

zucchini, corn and capsicum fritters

Trends that have become apparent are the return to simplicity and a more conscious effort to understand what we eat and where it comes from. This can be seen with the number of farmer’s markets and personal vegetable gardens popping up all over urban cities. With the change in season, I’ve noticed this more and more. As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, people venture out again, and the number of people that frequent community gardens and the local markets is overwhelming. Seeing as I don’t have a veggie patch and haven’t had the chance to replant my herb garden, I love going to the markets to see what fresh produce is available. I revel in picking out unmarked, plump fruit and vegetables and the inspiration they bring. Cooking with fresh seasonal produce is so much fun in spring because I think what’s in season is so much more colourful compared to other seasons. And with that, came the inspiration for zucchini, corn and capsicum fritters. 

One thing I struggle with is making dinner after I’ve come home from work. The very last thing I want to do is spend time slaving away in the kitchen – I’m too hungry and impatient to cook an elaborate meal. I want to make something that is simple to prepare, fast to cook and assemble and deliciously fresh and tasty to eat. Perhaps I should get myself Donna Hay’s book Fast, Fresh, Simple... Yes, friends, Christmas is coming up and so is my birthday... hint, hint, nudge, nudge.

I went shopping over the weekend and while in the local grocer was inspired by all the beautifully bright colours. Off I went, loading my basket with corn, zucchini, capsicum, cucumber and other necessities (yes, chocolate). Once at home, I pored through my cookbooks at home and found a recipe for zucchini fritters – something I’ve always wanted to make. Given how inspired I was I decided to do a little experimenting and throw together a hodge-podge of the ingredients I bought and bam – zucchini, corn and capsicum fritters.

These are so simple to make. Really. I’m not lying. They hardly take any time at all to cook (and eat). Plus, you’re getting 3 veggies in every fritter. Win-win I say.

Zucchini, corn and capsicum fritters

preparation time | 5 minutes + 10 minutes standing time for zucchini
cooking time | 10 minutes
makes | about 8 medium sized fritters (around 5cm in diameter)

1 big zucchini
2 spring onions
½ red capsicum
1 whole corn cob
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup plain flour
½ teaspoon of baking powder
Olive oil or another oil of your choice for frying

Tzatziki
1 cup plain or Greek, full-fat yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
Grated cucumber, as much or as little as you want
Pinches of salt and pepper
1 small minced or crushed clove of garlic 

1| Cut the rounded end of the zucchini off and coarsely grate into a colander. Stir the salt through and let it sit in the colander. Make sure to put a bowl under the colander as water will drip out and you don’t really want zucchini water dripping all over your kitchen bench.

2| While you’re waiting for the water to extract from the zucchini (amazingly, this does happen), finely slice the spring onions and chop up the capsicum into cube-like pieces (it’s ok if they’re not perfectly cubed – it will add a rustic charm to the fritters). To remove the corn kernels from the corn, cut all the way down the corn cob with a sharp knife, as close to the cob as you can.

3| With the back of a wooden spoon, try to press out as much water from the zucchini as possible. Amazing isn’t it?! Mix in the corn and capsicum. Add freshly cracked pepper. You probably don’t need to add any more salt at this stage. Salty fritters are not really that tasty. Trust me, been there, done that.

4| Mix the egg, flour and baking powder into the vegetable mixture. You’ll see the mixture come start to come together and form kind of a sloppy dough. That’s ok – it’s what you want! Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a fry pan (non-stick skillets work best – less mess!) until it shimmers. Drop small bunches of the vegetable mixture into the skillet, a few at a time, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Flatten the fritters slightly with your spatula – it will make cooking and turning them easier. Cook over a moderately high heat and until the edges are golden, flip them over and cook until the other side is golden.

5| To make tzatziki, mix all ingredients in a bowl and flavour with salt and pepper to your taste. Dollop on fritters before serving.