Guest Post: Chris' Lemonade Cupcakes

Meet Christina!  She is the mother of four, wife of one, orchestra teacher of many, toe reader, herbal guru, creative artist, animal lover, gardener and culinary genius.  To top it all off, she is one hot mama!  And I'm lucky enough to have her as my sister-in-law.  Chris is one of those ladies who is at home in her own skin.  She's got depth and understanding beyond her years.  She is a true and loyal friend and person and she is a blast to be with.  She is a breath of fresh air.  I love her to pieces.  So back to the part about her being a culinary genius.  Seriously, this woman creates recipes that are so mouth-watering!  She once made me a pizza, that I kid you not, was 3 1/2 inches high, piled with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, basil leaves, heirloom tomatoes, and other deliciousness, and it was so delectable.  I always look forward to her delicious meals!  So I finally was able to get her to guest post for me.  Hooray!  Presenting Chris' Lemonade Cupcakes.  They are heavenly! 

Chris always makes the food look lovely as well!

Lemonade Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup sifted flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 cup scalded milk
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar

Directions:
Mix dry flour and baking powder together. Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar and lemon extract. Quickly add flour mixture and stir just until mixed. Slowly stir in hot milk. Pour into cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1.3 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1 stick salted butter cut into 1 tablespoon slices

Directions:
Whisk eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice and peel into the top of a double broiler. Blend well. set top of double broiler on to bottom with boiling water but make sure that the bottom of the pan does not touch the boiling water. Whisk constantly until thick and 170 degrees for 5 minutes (do not allow to boil). The key to good lemon curd is gentle, constant heat and constant whisking. Remove bowl from over the water and whisk in butter one cube at a time, allowing each curd to melt before adding the next. Cool curd covered in fridge.
Cut a small hole into the top of each cupcake and fill with cooled lemon curd.

Lemon Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 - 2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (or to taste)

Directions:
Mix all together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. In a pastry bag with a large star or decorating tip swirl frosting onto lemon curd filled cupcakes. Sprinkle with red colored sugar and top with a sliced strawberry.

Guest Post: Laura's Rainbow Cake

I am so excited to introduce you to Laura!  Isn't she gorgeous?  I met Laura when we lived in Kentucky.  To know Laura is to love Laura.  She's one of those people who makes you feel like a million bucks because she is so genuine, kind, and all sorts of fabulous.  Plus, she is super talented.  You've got to check out this cake she made.  Here she is...

Photography by: Sheryll Lynne Photographers

My name is Laura, and I am flattered and excited that Kim invited me to be a guest on her blog! I'm a stay at home mom to two small kiddos--an adorable and very busy 21 month old son named Dominic, and a beautiful, sweet daughter named Bethany, who just turned 4. This birthday cake was for her special day. The last several months, she has been obsessed with rainbows. She loves to watch the show on PBS called, "The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot about that!" and they have an episode all about rainbows with a cute little song listing all 7 colors. So, this year for her birthday, it was all about rainbows! We had rainbow streamers, balloons that were all of the colors of the rainbow, rainbow colored fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries, and purple grapes), and she even wore a rainbow dress for her birthday party. A bit over the top? Nah! She loved everything about it, and it sure was fun! What was my favorite rainbow thing? The cake of course! I absolutely love making fun and sometimes time consuming cakes for my kids' birthdays. Seeing their reaction to the final product is the best! For the rainbow theme, I found several websites who had ideas on how to bake a rainbow cake, but the blog "One Charming Party" had an idea I liked best.

Here's how I did it:

8 Layer Rainbow Cake:

What you will need:
2 boxes of your favorite brand of white cake
8 colors of food coloring (I use the Wilton brand icing colors. In my opinion, they are the truest & brightest colors)
8 bowls
8" or 9" round pan(s)

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the two cake mixes according to the directions on the box. Divide the batter into 8 different bowls. I used an overflowing 2/3 cup for each color to make them evenly divided. Add the food coloring to each bowl. With the Wilton icing colors, I used Red-Red, Orange, Lemon Yellow, Leaf green, Royal Blue, Delphinium Blue (this made a great indigo), Violet, and Pink. Grease and flour your pan(s) and line the bottom with wax paper to ensure they will come out of the pan after baking. You will obviously take turns with your pans--unless you happen to have 8 pans! Cook each cake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.  Once the cakes are cooled completely, individually wrap each color and freeze them. This will make it easier to assemble and frost each layer. Once they are all frozen, you can begin to assemble your cake, frosting each individual layer, and then frost the whole cake when all the layers have been frosted and stacked. This makes a fabulously tall cake, but the really fabulous part is when you cut into it! All of the kids at the party were so surprised by the rainbow colors inside of the cake!

The birthday girl with her rainbow cake.

Linked to:  Full Plate Thursday, Sweets for a Saturday, Saturday Swap