Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Commencement at Harvard last semester was at the very end of May, but the weather was more like March. In spite of cold and wet, Clover, one of the restaurants in the square, had set up a lemonade stand on the side of the road. An employee was wrapped up in a raincoat against the drizzle, valiantly if somewhat unsuccessfully trying to sell various flavors of lemonade to the passing elderly alumni, who were far more interested in finding a hot cup of coffee than sampling iced lemonade. 

I'm back now, in Cambridge, and it's already getting getting a little chilly (though I've been assured by several people that low 70s is not cold at all).

Somehow the summer has passed in a blink, and I find myself wishing for a few more blazing hot days, for a bit more summer. I recall days in an air-conditioned office more vividly than the summer heat, sitting in front a computer more than sitting out in the sun, almost as if I haven't quite defrosted from the winter.

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Anyways, these cupcakes are reminiscent of those lazy summer days, of more carefree summers when I would go to the pool almost everyday and had the time to read Georgette Heyer novels back to back, going through a hefty stack of books every week.  

I don't necessarily want those days back, the boredom, the ways the days began to blend into each other. But it's nice to think about those summers.

The whipped cream and chiffon cake base in these cupcakes make them as light as air, letting the flavors shine through without being weighed down by excessive buttercream and sugar. They're the perfect summer cake, light and fluffy, sweet, and brightly flavored.

Caroline

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Yields: 15 cupcakes | Cake batter adapted from cooks.com

Ingredients
For the Lemon Chiffon Cake
1 cup cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
½ cup vegetable oil
zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup water
pinch of cream of tartar

For the Raspberry Lemon Curd
½ cup fresh raspberries
¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
zest of two lemons, grated
⅓ cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
¼ cup butter, cubed
pinch of salt

For the Raspberry Whipped Cream
½ cup fresh raspberries
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions
For the Chiffon Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Whip the egg whites in a clean glass or metal bowl on medium speed until frothy. Whisk in the cream of tartar. Whip the egg whites on high speed until they form stiff, glossy peaks. Set aside.
  3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, vegetable oil, lemon zest, vanilla, and water.
  4. Fold the the dry ingredients into the egg/oil/water mixture.
  5. Fold a quarter of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it. Fold the batter into the remaining egg white mixture.
  6. Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the Raspberry Lemon Curd

  1. Push the raspberries through a fine mesh strainer over a cup or bowl. Discard the pulp.
  2. Heat the raspberry juice and lemon juice in a saucepan until it begins to simmer.
  3. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. While whisking constantly, slowly pour in the hot lemon/raspberry juice.
  4. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over low heat it begins to thicken and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the butter and salt. Let cool thoroughly.

For the Raspberry Whipped Cream

  1. Push the raspberries through a fine mesh strainer over a cup or bowl. Discard the pulp.
  2. Heat the raspberry juice, lemon juice, and sugar over medium low heat. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Let cool thoroughly, then refrigerate for at least one hour.. 
  3. Whisk the cream cheese and raspberry juice together. 
  4. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the cream cheese mixture and whip until the cream forms stiff peaks. 

Assembly

  1. Cut a cone-shaped hole in the center of the cupcakes. Be careful not to pierce the bottom. 
  2. Remove the cone. Spoon or pipe 1-2 teaspoons of the raspberry lemon curd into the hole. Cut off the tip of the cone and replace the other half on top of the whole. 
  3. Frost with the raspberry whipped cream. Repeat for the other cupcakes.

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Before I begin on these Dark Chocolate Truffles, let's first have a look at a note from Pass the Cocoa...

Dark Chocolate Truffles | Pass the Cocoa

A Note From Pass the Cocoa:

Hello!

Caroline and I have been thinking about switching over to a new web host for a while now, and it was only a matter of time until we fell in love with this one. For those of you who have followed us from the beginning, you may remember when Pass the Cocoa had its cute blogspot URL which indicated that we were hosted by Blogger. As we continued baking and became more and more attached to our little spot in the bloggoverse, we decided finally to make it our own. Through these couple of years, we've played with several different blog designs -- some in the beginning that were aesthetically questionable, but others more recently with more success.

This time, we're presenting essentially an entirely new look to Pass the Cocoa, both internally and externally. So what exactly changed? First, of course, is the updated strawberry logo and design layout, which we kept clean and simple as before. The more subtle but dramatic transformation relates to the working machinery underneath the surface of the blog. The name of our new web host is Squarespace, and we chose it for its refreshing simplicity and flexible design. Oh, and as a bonus we threw in a photo gallery of our most recent food obsessions and updated our "About" page...because we like to spend our summers frolicking in Indiana's cornfields without a care in the world.

So...let us know how you like the new Pass the Cocoa. If you ever encounter a broken link or any other problem with our site, please let us know so we can fix the problem right away! Thank you for all your wonderful support and readership, and for those of you who have stuck around for a while, thanks for sticking with us through all the design overhauls. You are fabulous. Possibly even more fabulous than chocolate.

Love,
Monica & Caroline

It's funny to think that people are already back at school, yet I just got back home only last week after having finished my summer classes (FINALLY!). Technically, this marks the beginning of my real summer, so ya'll can expect to continue seeing a couple more summer recipes on the blog as long as I still haven't started school. In other words, summer in Monica's world equals June plus all the way through September. (Admittedly, this recipe isn't exactly a summer recipe so much as something that happened because...well, I just really wanted some chocolate. Preferably in cute bite-size form.)

What I learned from my adventures this summer, the first one I spent in Evanston and away from home, living in an apartment and taking classes!

  • The stove can be used for more than boiling water and making spaghetti (aka I learned how to cook!).
  • I'm glad I don't believe in feng shui, because everything about our apartment defies all laws of proper feng shui arrangement. Still, I felt uncannily bothered by this observation.
  • I can't live without my bike. Walking is just so...slow and inefficient! How all my bike-less friends manage on campus every day remains a mystery to me.
  • Northwestern's campus is so much nicer when there are only summer students, and everyone else is gone. #antisocial
  • Chicago's Magnolia Bakery banana pudding is to die for.
  • I have a problem with going grocery shopping far more often than I should or need to. Perhaps it's my form of stress shopping?
  • When watching an outdoor screening of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King accompanied by live Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance, drinking games are obligatory. As are good-quality bread and cheese, and fruit and chips.
  • In one of my daydreams, Trader Joe's successfully threw a coup d'état and displaced Whole Foods' monopolistic reign over Evanston. There was great celebration in the weeks that followed.
  • How have I never known about Honey Bunches & Oats before now? LOVE.
  • Stealing baby peas-in-a-pod plushies from a certain distressed friend is a favorite past time. It's also fun to pretend to play soccer with said peas.
  • I've very dearly missed baking and blogging. Cooking is just not the same!
  • Crepes are easy as pie and even more delicious. Potential future recipe?
  • "The Test" is a dating app, no matter what they tell you otherwise.

And finally, these Dark Chocolate Truffles. Smooth, velvety, rich dark chocolate dusted with cocoa powder. Deliciously impressive in an unassuming yet spectacular way. Best served cold from the fridge. This is the stuff that satisfies the strongest chocolate cravings, rights all wrongs, and brings out the oohs and ahhs. I hope you enjoy!

~ Moni

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Yield: ~25 truffles   |   Inspired by Something Swanky and Savory Simple

Ingredients
16 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 - 1/2 cup cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions
Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan on medium-high heat, just until it begins boiling. Immediately transfer the heavy whipping cream to the chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Chill in refrigerator for several hours or preferably overnight.

The next day, use a truffle scoop or hand-and-spoon method to shape the truffles. Chill in freezer for another couple hours, then prepare a bowl of cocoa powder and roll the truffles in it until completely coated. Chill again before serving, or enjoy right away.

Grape Pizza

I've complained talked about the dining halls at Harvard a couple times on this blog. I admit that HUDS (Harvard University Dining Services) does spoil us more than a lot of schools: we have endless buffet meals three times a day, the food is fairly healthy, and they try to keep it local (i.e. alllllllll the squash.)

But HUDS does like to get...experimental. I've been eating real world food all summer so some concoctions escape me, but one of the more memorable dishes is grape pizza.

This is one of their less successful dishes, I think, and I've yet to meet anyone who's terribly enthusiastic  about this pizza. It's rather disappointing to walk into the servery and see pizza, only to realize that it's grape (what's wrong with the spinach and bacon one?)

And it does seem a sad waste of grapes, which are a rather coveted fruit in the dining halls, usually only available on Friday mornings, which is an inhuman time to be awake. They could probably be put to better use than to be turned into squishy pulp on top of a greasy cheese pizza (with no sauce, for some reason).

Out of curiosity (as in, while procrastinating during finals week), I looked up grape pizza on Google, to see if it existed outside of Harvard's dining halls. (When I first had chicken and waffles for dinner, I thought it was something that HUDS made up, but apparently it's a real thing).

And yes, there actually are quite a few recipes for grape pizza. I think that what HUDS serves was an adaptation of something along the lines of Jamie Oliver's recipe for grape pizza, though something seems to have gotten lost in the translation.

However, I do think that grape pizza actually can be good, when it's paired with other flavors and textures. That's what I wanted to prove to myself with this recipe because I do think it's an interesting idea, rather than just to critique HUDS pizza (I realize, of course, that it is limited by bulk production and budget). I added onions, rosemary, and balsamic to complement the flavor of the grapes, swapped the tasteless mozzarella for a tart and savory goat cheese, increased the amount of grapes, and added fresh arugula to provide more texture and color.

The result? Make it. It'll change your mind about grape pizza.

-Caroline

Grape Pizza

Click here for the printable recipe.
Yields: 1 10-inch pizza   |   Crust adapted from The Candid Appetite

Ingredients
For the Crust
¾ cup warm water
2 ¼ teaspoon yeast
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional for greasing
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour

 For the Toppings
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
½ teaspoon dried rosemary (or about 1 ½ teaspoons fresh rosemary)
⅓ cup pizza sauce
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar 
3 ounces fresh goat cheese
½ cup arugula

Directions

  1. Make the dough. Mix together the water, sugar, and yeast. Stir in the olive oil and salt. Mix in the flours. Add more water or four if it is too dry or too sticky.
  2. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it is smooth and pliable. 
  3. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 - 2 hours. After it has risen, refrigerate the dough for at least an hour, or overnight.
  4. Preheat the oven to 500 F. Divide the dough in half. Set aside one half of the dough for another use.
  5. On a floured surface, roll out the remaining half into a 10-inch circle. Place the dough onto a baking sheet greased with olive oil. Brush more olive oil on top of the pizza dough.
  6. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
  7. Prepare the toppings. Saute the onions and garlic with the salt and pepper, until slightly browned. 
  8. Spread the pizza sauce over the crust. Scatter the grapes, onions, and rosemary over the pizza.
  9. Bake for another 10-25 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden-brown.
  10. While the pizza is baking, make the balsamic vinegar syrup. Boil the vinegar and sugar for about 5 minutes, or until it is reduced by about a third. Let cool.
  11. Once the pizza is cooked, sprinkle the goat cheese and arugula on top. Drizzle the balsamic syrup. 

How to Fill a Cupcake

The best cupcakes, I think, are the ones with something extra on the inside. As I've mentioned before, I don't like biting into a cupcake and getting a mouthful of overly sweet buttercream. But taking a bite and discovering a dot of tart lemon curd or sticky caramel in the center is entirely different. The filling inside the cupcake keeps the crumb very moist, and complements the flavors of the actual cake, rather than drowning it out in butter and sugar.

I meant to post a recipe for a cupcake with filling for today (well, actually for last Monday...), but I procrastinated on writing up the post. So today, I'm just posting the graphic that was supposed to go along with the recipe.

And, you know, in case you're super super inspired by my graphic and are dying to fill some cupcakes, here are a couple surprise-inside cupcakes from the web:

These Triple Caramel Cupcakesfrom Sprinkle Bakes: These cupcakes on Heather's amazing were the first filled cupcakes I ever came across. They look delicious, and are gorgeous with their little melted sugar halos!

Also her Black Sesame Cupcakes with Lemon Curd: The stark contrast between the dark cake the bright yellow lemon curd filling is stunning. (Basically, all of Heather Baird's cupcakes are fabulous)

Naomi's Banana Cupcakes with Bourbon Butterscotch Filling and Toasted Marshmallow Frosting are...well, I think the name is pretty comprehensive.

TheseChocolate Cherry Cupcakes from Call Me Cupcake feature a rum-soaked cherry in its center, in additional the whipped cream topping with a cherry on top.

And finally, Mango Cupcakes! Mango + Cake = Yum.

Happy Friday!

-Caroline