Our friends Tom and Tracy (the talented photographer who took the beautiful pictures below) invited us to a BBQ at their house over the long weekend and I thought it was the perfect time to try out a new recipe, highlighting the flavors of summer.
Previously, my blog posts haven't veered too far from the recipes I've researched. I've changed a thing or two to make it different than the original, but haven't been confident enough with my skills or taste to stray too far. However, this time I decided to create something of my own.
I knew I wanted to create a fresh, light, bright and obviously delicious treat to please the guests of our friends' BBQ. I saw a recipe that incorporated roasted strawberries in the frosting. This looked great, but I thought sliced, roasted strawberries would be a delicious middle layer to a cupcake. But what flavor should the cupcake be? In my opinion, the citrus flavors of a lemon cake would be a great accompaniment to the sweet, syrupy roasted strawberries. Finally, I had to figure out the frosting. The roasted strawberries reminded me of that delicious strawberry syrup that you usually find on the top of a classic cheesecake. Because of that, mascarpone seemed like the obvious and perfect topping to this delicious treat. Mascarpone is less grainy than ricotta cheese and definitely more sumptuous than typical cream cheese.
So I've come up with my own combination of flavors - my first original recipe!
I woke up early the day of the BBQ, excited to start putting together these concoction of flavors. Everything started well. The roasted strawberries came out of the oven syrupy and sweet, the batter of the cupcakes were a bright, fresh burst of lemony goodness, and the first pan of cakes baked to an airy, golden perfection.
And then the power went out.
I had the last six cupcakes in the oven (those were thrown out. Except for one, which I ate anyway. Half-baked is still better than eating raw batter, right?), and I still hadn't made the WHIPPED mascarpone frosting. I emphasized whipped there because you're supposed to whip the mascarpone cheese, heavy cream and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed. ELECTRIC mixer. And we had no electricity. Needless to say, I got my arm workout that day!
In the end, though. The cupcakes that did bake turned out great! They were well-received at the BBQ and were the perfect treat for the official start to summer.
A special thank you to my extremely talented friend Tracy Rodriguez Forbes (aka Tracy Rodriguez Photography - check her out on Facebook!). She took the time out of her BBQ hosting duties to snap some pics of my cupcakes. She specializes in wedding and yoga photography, but I personally think she should take up food photography as well because she made my simple cupcakes look phenomenal!
1/2 pound of strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 tsp. sugar
Lemon Cupcakes
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Zest of 3 medium lemons
1/2 cup half & half
Mascarpone Whipped Frosting
8 oz. mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1.) Preheat oven to 400. Arrange strawberries in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar and roast 15-20 minutes, until berries are soft and beginning to caramelize. Set aside to cool.
2.) Lower oven temp to 350. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.
3.) In a large bowl combine cake flour, flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. In another bowl cream together butter, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and half and half. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in three parts. Mix until all ingredients are just incorporated.
4.) Fill each cupcake liner 1/3 of the way with the batter. Place 2-3 sliced, roasted strawberries on top of the batter, then add more batter on top of the strawberries until the liners are 2/3 of the way full
5.) Bake 19-22 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool.
6.) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix the mascarpone cheese, sugar, and vanilla on high until completely blended. Add whipping cream to the mascarpone/sugar mixture, and mix on low until cream is mostly incorporated into the cheese/sugar mixture. Scrape bowl. Then whip on high until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with your favorite cupcake frosting tip and top the cooled cupcakes.
