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Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Cupcakes in this season's hottest flavors (at least in my kitchen)

If this keeps up, I'm going to have to change the name of my blog to "Fun with Limes and Raspberries." Seriously, I think I have a problem. I'm addicted to these two fruits. Could be worse, I suppose. I could be addicted to liver and onions! (No offense to you liver and onion lovers out there!)

So my husband bought me this cookbook a while back...he knows I love cookbooks that tell a story. You know, about the author, why they make the recipes, what inspired them, etc. I read cookbooks cover to cover, like novels--I know a lot of you guys do, too. He got me
Recipes From A Very Small Island, by Linda Greenlaw and her mother Martha Greenlaw. I'm sure most of you remember The Perfect Storm? Linda Greenlaw is the swordfish boat captain portrayed in the movie by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. How cool is that? And it turns out, her and her mom are wonderful cooks with amazing recipes and funny stories to tell. The three page section on having a real on-the-beach-buried-in-sand clambake is hilarious. The book is loaded with gorgeous photos, wonderful recipes using fresh ingredients, and lots of stories. The only thing I take issue with is the part on page 80 (in case any of you have the book) where Linda describes all New Englanders as being hoarders and afraid to throw anything away, and "gleefully returning from the town dump with more than we brought." SO NOT TRUE! I've never even been to a dump!!! We don't all hoard stuff that we may find useful some day, and plenty of us lead clutter-free lives. We may have a clutter of Legos in the living room at the moment, and ok, I do hoard chocolate, but that's it. Just wanted to set the record straight, hehe. I still love you, Linda!

So there's this recipe in there by Martha for Lemon Glazed Blueberry Cupcakes that I've had my eye on since getting the book. Nice basic cupcake recipe, with a lemony glaze that's spooned on halfway through baking. I was going shopping anyway, so added blueberries to my list. And here's where my addiction reared it's ugly, but extremely tasty head. I was making a salad that has raspberries in it...I had to make this salad, it's got my name on it! (another post about that delicious salad later.) I was buying raspberries and thought...lemon blueberry, lemon, lime, lime raspberry!! That's exactly what my inner voice said. Sad, right? Limes and raspberries invade my daily thought process!

Get outta my head, you gorgeously delicious fruits!



So I decided to divide the batter in half, and add--you guessed it--blueberries to one half and raspberries to the other half, along with lemon and lime zest to the batters. (Lemon-blueberry and lime-raspberry.) I also split the glaze in half and added lemon juice/zest to one half and lime juice/zest to the other.

These are moist, tangy, not too sweet and delicious! I'd definitely make these again, and they'd even be good with a little simple buttercream on top. If I'd had more time on Sunday, I would have totally made a frosting to go on these, not that they need it--they taste great! But my cupcakes are never very pretty. Something I need to work on.

Lemon Glazed Blueberry and/or Lime Glazed Raspberry Cupcakes
-adapted from Martha Greenlaw's recipe

Supposed to make 24 cupcakes, but I got 18...

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries (I used about 3/4 cups blueberries and 3/4 cups raspberries)
1 cup milk
lemon and or lime zest

glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp lemon juice (since I split it in half, I used 1 tsp each of lemon and lime juice)
3 tbsp water
grated lemon (and lime if you're using it) zest

Heat oven to 375. Grease muffin pans or line with papers.
In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
In medium bowl, sift 2 cups of the flour with the baking soda and salt.
Toss the berries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. (Again, I was dividing, so I tossed the berries separately with 1/8 cup flour each.)
On medium speed, add flour mixture to butter/sugar, alternating with the milk.
(This is where I divided the batter and added the zest and berries to each batter.)
Fold in the berries and zest.
Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 15 minutes.
While those are baking, make the glaze.
Whisk the sugar and water, divide if doing so, and add the zest and juice.
After the 15 minutes are up, remove the pans from the oven, and carefully spoon the glaze over the cupcakes, about 1 tbsp over each one.
Return to oven and bake until done, 8-10 minutes.
Run a knife around each one immediately and after a couple minutes, remove to a rack to cool. (Take them out of the pan soon or the glaze will cool and stick.)










I've also been given a new (to me) award from Grace at A Southern Grace. God, she makes me laugh, and her food is just amazing. Please go check her out!
She gave me the "I Love You This Much" award. Thanks so much, Grace! I'm truly flattered and also thrilled to receive it.



I'm passing it along to...

Debbie at B More Sweet
Nikki at canarygirl.com
Amy at Delicious by Nature
Shaye at Smarter Than Pancakes
Sarah at Homemade

If you haven't checked them out yet, go...now! You're missing out on some great blogs!

Click the widget for a printable version of the recipe!

Lemon Glazed Blueberry and Lime Glazed Raspberry Cupcakes

These cupcakes are adapted from Recipes From a Very Small ...

See Lemon Glazed Blueberry and Lime Glazed Raspberry Cupcakes on Key Ingredient.


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47 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I too love cookbooks that tell a story :0)

Oh man, those Lemon Glazed Blueberry Cupcakes AND the Lime Glazed Raspberry Cupcakes look and sound sensational - yum!!

Congratulations on the blogging award!!

April was in CA now MA said...

Well, you've gone and done it now! When I made the raspberry lime pound cake I realized after a few years of always picking up, looking at and putting back a Microplane I now had no excuse not to get one. This recipe only confirms I definitely *NEED* one. At least that's what I'm telling myself...

Another beautiful recipe I'm adding to my list!

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I'm Sophie, Key Ingredient's Chief Blogger. We would like to feature this recipe on our blog; the combo of raspberries and lime sounds delish. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if interested. Thanks :)

Sophie
http://blog.keyingredient.com/

Ginny said...

Delicious! That sounds great! I love reading cookbooks too...

Erika said...

I need to start trying some of these lime/raspberry recipes!

test it comm said...

Both of those fresh berry muffins sound really good. I am going to have to try the lime and raspberry combo.

Vicarious Foodie said...

Mmmm fruity cupcakes! How 'bout you send some of those my way?

Amy said...

Oh my gosh, Elle. I can't believe that I STILL haven't made anything with lime and raspberry yet even with all of your great ideas. I hope that salad had a lime dressing?

And I'm seeing where you might use that nifty frozen lemon zest here.

I love the sound of these! And thanks for the award :) The little picture is TOOOOO adorable and your kinds words made my evening.

Unknown said...

hmmm i am not normally a fan of citrusy cakes...but it really sounds perfect for summer...i must give it a try...i might change my mind eh?

congrats on the award, elle!

Anonymous said...

That sounds like a great cookbook, Elle! I'm laughing like Muttley at the dump comment. And OMG--Deeeeeeelicious cupcakes! I'll have one of each, please! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh! And Thank you so much, Elle! :D

Garrett said...

Lime and raspberry, hmmm? I might have to try that out in something soon, see if I can't feed your addiction. I've been into the raspberry/lemon combo lately, but I can try to nudge lemon out of the way for a bit.

grace said...

you're most welcome, and completely deserving!

your little cakes look scrum-diddly-umptious, and honestly, i'm not sure which i'd prefer! and never fear--i fully support your raspberry-lime obsession.

LyB said...

I love how your thought process works, it leads to very delicious looking muffins! :)

Patricia Scarpin said...

I never knew she had published a book, especially a cookbook! I cried so much at that movie. :)

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with being addicted to those delicious flavors!

cakewardrobe said...

Whenever I buy a book, I always have it shipped to my work so that I can read it on the commute home. I love your fruit filled cupcakes!

Pam said...

Those looks so good! I love all the flavors you used. Congrats on your blogging award.

Deborah said...

I can see why you keep having raspberries and lime take over your thoughts - it is such a great combination! These cupcakes sound so good, and I love the glaze idea.

Me said...

So here I am, unbelievably honored to be the recipient of this award from Elle, who is a Total Foodblog Champion, and I'm thinking "gosh, how lucky I am to have a friend like Elle, even though we've never met..." Which got me thinkin, I wonder what Elle is like in real life...and now I have just cracked myself up thinking of that great New Yorker cartoon where a dog is typing on a computer and says "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog." Elle...whether you are a super-terrific mom and cook with an awesome New England blog, or you are a cute little puppy with amazing cyberskills, I am so lucky that you have said such nice things about my blog! You're the BOMB, girl!

Elle said...

Well now you've gone and outed me, B. But I'm not a dog. I'm a cat. Much more sophisticated. ;)

Elle said...

Veggiegirl--I can usually be found reading a cookbook. And I have little stacks of them all over the place. My husband says can we put this back on the shelf? NO! I'm still reading that! hehe.

April--You DO need a microplane! It's great for parm and chocolate, too.

Ginny--it's good to know I'm not alone with my cookbook reading.

Erika--so funny! I was telling my family that I needed a fruit filling for an upcoming recipe, and my 13 yr old said "Anything but lime and raspberry!" hahaha!!

Kevin--thank you!

Vicarious--I've still got a few left. Yours if you want them!

Amy--the salad has a lime raspberry vinaigrette--it's delicious! And you're welcome. :)

Rita--thank you!

Cg--can you believe the dump comment?!? I don't even know what a dump LOOKS like, lmbo!

Garrett--lemon, lime, they're both good. And you! I can't keep up with you! You're a fast blogger, hehe.

Grace--thank you for being an enabler.

LyB--Thank you!

Patricia--yes! And she's ventured into fiction now, too. I will have to check out the book.

Cakewardrobe--I do a lot of reading in the car while I'm waiting for the kids to get out of school. (I also have cookbooks in there, lol.)

Pam--thank you so much!

Deborah--the glaze is nice since it's baked...it's not chalky like some powdered sugar glazes can be.

Thank you, everyone!

Anonymous said...

Those look great! Keep the raspberry lime combos coming. :)

Meghan said...

these cupcakes look amazing! I looooove loooove looove limes... and these recipes are going into my keeper file.

What a lovely blog you have as well!

Anonymous said...

Hey, there is nothing wrong with going nuts with a certain ingredient. These look wonderful...love it!

Ruth Strong said...

Elle, these sounds great and they look so cute! Love that you're obsessed with raspberry/lime.

Thanks for entering these into bookmarked recipes!

Katy said...

so yummy! i was just thinking that i need to try some blueberry recipes -- they're everywhere lately!!!

hungryandfrozen said...

That fruit looks so delicious! I love cookbooks that have a story behind the recipes, so much 'warmer' than just being dictated the method! What gorgeous cupcakes :) nothing wrong with a little obsession LOL especially for raspberries and lime.

Cris said...

I could have some right now... they look so yummy!

Anonymous said...

Creative and fun use of the lime and raspberries. (Even if a little obsessive!) I would love the eat these cupcakes. And the variety makes them all the better.

giz said...

These cupcakes made me feel happy all over - a glaze that goes on half way through baking - wow - very different.

Congrats on the award!!!

Anonymous said...

lovely!
all the best ingredients of the season. :)

Anonymous said...

All my friends make fun of me because I keep cookbooks on my bedside table. It's literature, man!

Anonymous said...

The cupcakes sound so summery:) Great recipe, as usual. I share the same passion for cookbooks, too. I read them like novels:) They have so much to tell than just offer recipes.

toontz said...

These look delicious! I still have lots of limes left over from the Joust. (I picked up 2 bags of 12 limes in the reduced price produce at my grocery store...only .59 cents each bag!) I couldn’t resist.

Tiffany said...

These sound so tasty! I will have to try these out:) I'm the same way with cookbooks, my husband thinks I'm nuts!

I like your new header :)

Anonymous said...

I'll be watching for the raspberry salad follow-up recipe! It's totally that time of year.

Half Baked said...

Those cupcakes are beautiful! I love the flavor combo:)

Elle said...

Thank you so much, everyone!

Lore said...

Gorgeous! I asked myself which one of these would be my favourite and I honestly coudn't pick one, I like the both.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the award! I'm working on passing it on.

I can say that I HAVE met Elle, and she's just as lovely as you'd think. (And she has the most gorgeous blonde hair I've ever seen.) ;)

So maybe that makes her a tiger cat?

Elle said...

Shaye, you're such a sweetheart! I love you. muac!

taste memory said...

I love your delicate cupcakes + sweets you make, always so dainty & pretty! And YES, I know what you mean about getting hooked on some flavors. Right now it's cucumbers and watermelons for me, at least it's seasonal.

Congrats on award ;-)!

Anonymous said...

My kind of flavors. Yum! I can't decide if I like that or liver and onion better though. Could you make me a liver and onion cupcake?? :-)

Anonymous said...

Omigoodness - so yummy. I've also been completely taken with berries as of late, especially when paired with other delicious things. Now, I'll have to try raspberry and lime...

Kristen said...

Oh, I've just been obsessed with anything lime flavored these days. I am SO making these! :)

Anonymous said...

My family and I are big fans of citrus, being Italian we have a propensity to Lemons ! - I laughed when I read your comment on 'hoarders' I am naught, and never met one til I married my yankee New Hampshire-ite husband. And the dump remark is so apropos ..still trying to break him of this habit. That's what it is a bad habit. Lucia.

Anonymous said...

I really really envy you those lovely summer berries. They always look so delicious!

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