Blueberry Cupcakes w/ Lemon Mascarpone Frosting (★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆)

This past week we were privy to the ultimate in Hollywood glamour, sophistication, and artistry.

Or at least, that's what we're promised...and crossing our fingers for.

But whether or not the Avengers received one too many nominations or Seth MacFarlane has a beyond amazing voice and a dirty mouth, I love taking part in this night reserved for the film elite.

The Academy.

The Awards.

The Oscars.

Every year we have a little party.

I say "little" because there's less than ten people.

But trust me, we do not take this day lightly.

There's food.  Trivia.

And my favorite.
Voting.

Each person gets a ballot and casts their vote for the winners.  Whoever predicts the most correctly is bestowed a prize.

Last year it was a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints.  A small token to some, but, man, did it feeeeeeel good!

Every year, the competition gets more intense.
By now, we've all added "pre-Oscar research" to our list of things to do before the big day.
Weighing five opinions per category is totally reasonable, right? 

But the best part of this years show -- we'll go ahead and leave Seth MacFarlane, in a suit (weakness #1), singing in the vein of Ol' Blue Eyes (weakness #2), out the equation -- the best was this dress and Jennifer Lawrence.

All of her.

She's a Hollywood experiment.

Like somebody thought it would be a hoot to throw in a completely normal, exceedingly awkward, yet surprisingly talented girl into the mess that is fame, fortune, and Jack Nicholson.

I mean, how totally relatable is she?!?  Am I right?

No other actress I know of is so starstruck by every celebrity she meets, freely brings up her "hyperactive" bladder, and spews any off-the-wall comment that comes into her pretty little head.

So when she tripped on that first stair on her way to accept her award, I just chuckled to myself, "Oh. That's so Jenn!"

Like we're buddies or something.
Only, we're not.
But we totally could be!

So to celebrate this great achievement of hers (and those of many others), I made these cupcakes.

Because nothing says "Wow, you were outstanding in that movie!  When you cried, there was snot -- and in that moment, you were unattractive.  Clearly your dedication was above all else this year" like a rustic looking blueberry and lemon mascarpone cupcake. 

So maybe I won't be winning "Best Train of Thought" or "Best Appropriately Themed Cupcake."

But that's okay.  Because everyone loved them.

The cupcakes were so dense and moist.

And the frosting was the perfect blend of cream, lemon, and sweetness.

Perfect enough to help hide the fact that I forgot half of the sugar in the cupcakes when I doubled the recipe.  

Twice. the. amount. means. twice. the. sugar.

Classic Nat!

Blueberry Cupcakes
adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction

• 3 Cups Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 1 Cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, melted
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 1/2 Cup Milk
• 4 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Package of Freeze Dried Blueberries (1.2 oz or 1/4 Cup Ground)

Lemon Mascarpone Frosting
adapted from Week of Menus

• 4 Tbsp (1/2 Stick) of Butter, softened
• 8oz Mascarpone Cheese
• 2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar 
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• (Optional) Additional Lemon Juice to Taste

Makes Approx. 24 Cupcakes
Preheat Oven to 350F

1) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix and set aside.

2) In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter.  Heat in 30 second increments.

    Note: If you don't have unsalted butter, that's okay.  Just omit the added teaspoon of salt listed in 

              the recipe. 

3) Add sugar to the melted butter and stir until sugar starts to dissolve.  The mixture will still be very 

    grainy.  Place bowl in refrigerator for 1 minute. 

4) Take butter/sugar bowl out of the fridge and add the remaining wet ingredients one at a time, beating 

     in between each addition - eggs, yogurt, milk, and vanilla.

5) Add the dry ingredients to the batter in small increments until well combined.
6) In a food processor (or coffee grinder) grind the freeze dried blueberries until almost a fine powder.

7) Add ground blueberries to batter and beat/stir well.

8) Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill each to about 3/4 full.  

9) Bake at 350F for approx. 20 minutes or until a toothpick, inserted into the center, comes out clean.  

    Allow these to cool completely before frosting. 

10) For Frosting: Beat together softened butter and mascarpone cheese.  Mixture should be fluffy.

11) Add lemon zest and sugar, one cup at a time.  For stiffer frosting, add more sugar.  

If Jenn gets to win, then why can't I?

Clearly I'm not above self promotion, people.

*Special thanks to my sister for being obnoxiously photo happy, yet very helpful in snapping away at me baking this week.  One less day to have to worry about getting flour and butter caked into my lens.

Fail: Red, White, & Blue - Cake In A Jar (★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆)

Oh, the creative ideas you find on the web.  They're so adorable.  So simple.  

That's pure genius!  Why didn't I think of that myself?

And yet so often I find myself piled high in flour, hair disheveled, cursing the very mind I just idolized...the Betty Homemaker who is incapable of anything but perfection...while I dump yet another "experiment" in the garbage.  

Well, this week I had one of those days.  

Don't let this picture fool you.  This is a fail post remember?

Cake In A Jar.  Sounds intriguing, right?  I found out about this idea after following a trail of Pinterest recipes -- funny how those things work out. 

I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of this sooner.  Suddenly fragile baked goods were portable.

Rainbow Cake. S'more Cake. Lemon Meringue Pie Cake.  All conveniently packaged in their own individual jar.  (Okay that last one I made up, but if you were a real Betty Homemaker you could find a way to whip up a pie/cake combo!)

I had to do it.  And Memorial Day was just the occasion I needed.  

It was all planned out.  The red, white, and blue layers.  The quart sized jars for the gloriously large servings.  And the pièce de résistance...a Marine to send one to.

Oh, the patriotism!  (This same Marine heinously charged me with exploitation and I took great offense.  But that is besides the point.)

I wanted to make each layer a distinct flavor:

Red Layer: Red Velvet Cake
White Layer: Golden Vanilla Cake.
Blue Layer: Blueberry Cake (white cake with strained blueberry pie filling, and blue gel food color)

I must say, the flavors were great.  Especially, the blueberry.  Very unique.  

Alas, that's where the happy part of this post ends...

Little did I know that my trouble actually began weeks before, when I was enticed by the quart sized mason jars at Ace Hardware.  They were so glisten-y and voluptuous.   Who wants a pint, when you can have the pleasure of digging into a mound of delicious cake?  You don't have to finish it...just having the option is reason enough.

These are the things I think about, guys.

Well, I should've thought a little harder.  The recipe I used had instructions for cakes half this size.  I figured I would just cook them longer.

Wrong.

The outside and tops were overcooked before the red velvet layer had even begun to set.

I tried to compensate for this by lowering the temperature and increasing the time on the oven.  After an hour, the kabob skewer I was using to test the cakes came up relatively clean.  It wasn't perfect, but I was so worried about the tops (they were almost crunchy...and overflowing) that I made an executive decision to take them out and hope the very bottom layer would continue to cook a little longer.

As you can deduce from the second picture in this post, it seemed like I had made the right decision.  I assumed the cakes would settle back into the jars as they cooled and I could just slice off what little of the tops were still protruding out.

Thinking of nothing but sunbeams and butterflies, I left for the day.

What I found when I returned were pathetic, deflated versions of the cakes I had made.

Apparently, what I considered "cooked" clearly wasn't.

They could've used at least another half hour in the oven, but at grave risk to the blueberry layer.

Epic Fail.

What little I was able to taste was SUPER moist.  Too moist, if that's a legitimate problem for a cake to have.  The undercooked batter probably didn't help this situation much.  No frosting needed.

It's frustrating that these didn't work out.  They have so much potential.  I know what I can improve upon for the next time, but getting past all this wasted effort and wanting to try again is going to take some time.

Insert situation appropriate idiom here:

• Don't bite off more than you can chew.
• If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
• Don't cry over spilled milk.
• Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins

Feel free to message me with suggestions.

---

And Happy Memorial Day!  I am so grateful for all the men and women who were willing to give up time with their families, the luxury of an unregulated lifestyle and, ultimately, their lives for me and for you...for us.

Blueberry Banana Bran Muffins (★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆)

     

It was my turn to bake for the cafe again.  I decided to take a slightly different approach this time because, whelp, my french toast muffins hadn't gone over as well as I'd hoped. WHA??!  How could they not, right? But you can't argue with the facts and the facts of our church cafe are these:

      1) Quiche sells.  You don't have the quiche and you brace yourself for the  

          repercussions. Must have quiche.

      2) We have a lot of healthy eaters.  Whether they really are or not, the title "french 

          toast" alone is enough to keep away even the most easily swayed of healthy 

          eaters.

      3) Most people have already eaten breakfast so they are looking for either a snack 

         (not a large muffin) or something more akin to lunch (once again...not a large 

         muffin).  

Since I am a baker and not a quiche maker, I went with...what I thought was...a very reasonable compromise: Blueberry Banana Bran Muffins

Banana and Blueberries = Fruit

Bran = Fiber

Fruit + Fiber = Healthy

Right?  Just go with me, k?

I went with a recipe very similar to this one: Best Banana Bran Muffins

Can't go wrong with a crumb topping. Yum!

Instead of wheat bran, I used crushed up fiber cereal.  All Bran is my favorite.  

These turned out really well.  The tops were especially delicious.  The bottoms could have used more oil for increased moistness, but then we'd be creeping into "fattening" territory. It's a catch-22 really.  

I ate one.  That's all that matters.