Lemon Cream & Coconut Icebox Cupcakes
From: ArcaMax Publishing's "Variety Menu," by Faith Durand, via TheKitchn.com (5/6/2012)
(Faith Durand is managing editor of TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food & home cooking.)
Notes from Faith: The delicious alchemy of icebox cupcakes! It's warming up outside & while it's not quite time to turn off the oven yet, icebox desserts are always welcome. Here are some simple little treats you can eat with a fork or straight out of the paper, if you don't mind a smear of cream here & there: three-bite lemon cupcakes, sprinkled with coconut & topped with bright berry. And all with no baking!
There's something both retro & special about icebox cakes & cupcakes. They involve a kind of magic, a sumptuous melding of cookie & cream with a result that is far more than the sum of its parts. It's cake without baking, dessert with no oven.
These little three-bite cupcakes require only a few ingredients & they come together with very little work. Then, in the refrigerator, they transform into a little piece of cake, tangy & bright with real lemon, sprinkled with coconut & topped with a colorful berry. You're not eating cookies with cream on top; you're eating cake. See -- magic!
As I've said, these are very easy. They are also easy to adapt. Use the lemon cream as the base, but if you don't like coconut, for instance, you could sprinkle these with chopped candied lemon peel or white chocolate shavings instead. Or double up on the lemon & drizzle them with warmed lemon curd!
Makes 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 ozs cream cheese, very soft
2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large lemons, zested & juiced (about 1/3 cup juice)
72 Nilla wafers (from 1 box)
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
24 raspberries, fresh or frozen & defrosted
Directions:
1. Whip the cream cheese until very soft in the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a large bowl & a hand mixer). Gradually whip in the cream. When it has been smoothly combined with the cream cheese, add the powdered sugar, salt & lemon zest (about 2 tablespoons). Whip until the cream forms firm peaks, then slowly beat in the lemon juice. Continue beating until completely combined. The cream should still hold soft peaks.
2. Place a Nilla wafer in a cupcake paper (I used regular-sized cupcake papers) or in a ramekin. Smear about a tablespoon of cream on top of the wafer. Smear the cream on another wafer & put it on top, then repeat once more, for a total of three layers. Sprinkle some coconut generously over the stack. Repeat until you've used up all the wafers & cream.
3. Top each with one raspberry.
4. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until the stack has softened into a cakey texture. Enjoy.
_._,_._,_
From: ArcaMax Publishing's "Variety Menu," by Faith Durand, via TheKitchn.com (5/6/2012)
(Faith Durand is managing editor of TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food & home cooking.)
Notes from Faith: The delicious alchemy of icebox cupcakes! It's warming up outside & while it's not quite time to turn off the oven yet, icebox desserts are always welcome. Here are some simple little treats you can eat with a fork or straight out of the paper, if you don't mind a smear of cream here & there: three-bite lemon cupcakes, sprinkled with coconut & topped with bright berry. And all with no baking!
There's something both retro & special about icebox cakes & cupcakes. They involve a kind of magic, a sumptuous melding of cookie & cream with a result that is far more than the sum of its parts. It's cake without baking, dessert with no oven.
These little three-bite cupcakes require only a few ingredients & they come together with very little work. Then, in the refrigerator, they transform into a little piece of cake, tangy & bright with real lemon, sprinkled with coconut & topped with a colorful berry. You're not eating cookies with cream on top; you're eating cake. See -- magic!
As I've said, these are very easy. They are also easy to adapt. Use the lemon cream as the base, but if you don't like coconut, for instance, you could sprinkle these with chopped candied lemon peel or white chocolate shavings instead. Or double up on the lemon & drizzle them with warmed lemon curd!
Makes 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 ozs cream cheese, very soft
2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large lemons, zested & juiced (about 1/3 cup juice)
72 Nilla wafers (from 1 box)
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
24 raspberries, fresh or frozen & defrosted
Directions:
1. Whip the cream cheese until very soft in the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a large bowl & a hand mixer). Gradually whip in the cream. When it has been smoothly combined with the cream cheese, add the powdered sugar, salt & lemon zest (about 2 tablespoons). Whip until the cream forms firm peaks, then slowly beat in the lemon juice. Continue beating until completely combined. The cream should still hold soft peaks.
2. Place a Nilla wafer in a cupcake paper (I used regular-sized cupcake papers) or in a ramekin. Smear about a tablespoon of cream on top of the wafer. Smear the cream on another wafer & put it on top, then repeat once more, for a total of three layers. Sprinkle some coconut generously over the stack. Repeat until you've used up all the wafers & cream.
3. Top each with one raspberry.
4. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until the stack has softened into a cakey texture. Enjoy.
_._,_._,_
