Here’s Some Food For Thought: PAY ATTENTION!

Today’s the day!!! Craig’s gotten his first two birthday clues…He took the dogs to the kennel this morning, and they gave him his 2nd clue – Meet me at my office this afternoon – We’re going out of town for the weekend!

But he stillllll doesn’t know where… 🙂 Clue 3 is coming soon! I can’t wait to share all the pictures and details with y’all on What’s Up Wednesday next week!

Last night when Craig got home, his first “gift” and clue awaited him – a note that said (to be read in the style of Dr. Suess 🙂 ):

“Let’s start this off right, like a scavenger hunt.

The first thing you’ll do is put the pups in the truck.

Water Dog Kennels – 8 AM SHARP!

When you have finished, you’ll know what to do…

Congratulations on receiving your first Birthday Clue!”

And next to the note/riddle, I placed the special birthday cupcakes I made for him yesterday:

That’s what they were supposed to look like…but I probably should have paid more attention while making the frosting…

I created my own combination recipe, using The Kitchen Is Calling, and Taste of Home’s similar recipes, and my own ideas.

Everything was going well until it was time to make the frosting and I realized it was another (I do this every year somehow!) meringue frosting…which is delicious but oh so precise and time intensive…

After I had beat the frosting over heat for ten minutes, while sweating to death and switching my already-sore-from-pure-barre arms from one to the other, I transferred the mixture into a bowl….and without thinking…poured in the entire bag of coconut.

Yes.

I was SO. MAD. AT. MYSELF.

So, of course, when the cupcakes were complete, I had to taste one (albeit, a small one) to make sure they were edible… In fact, they were quite delicious! Even though I am not a fan of lemon-flavored desserts, I had to stop myself from having more than just the small tester cake. Yum! So…

If you, too, would like to make these delicious cupcakes, here’s the breakdown:

Lemon Curd & Coconut Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 2 cups of AP Flour & 1.5 cups of Cake Flour.)
3-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups 2% milk (I used whole milk – as I do for all baking.)
FILLING:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
FROSTING:
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 egg whites
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flaked coconut (Make a note to yourself right now that these coconuts are for layering over the TOP OF THE FROSTING!!!)

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.
Transfer to cupcake pans. This recipe should yield approximately 36 medium-sized cupcakes. I recommend using cupcake liners, rather than just pouring the mixture directly into the pans. This should bake on 350° for 20 minutes.
For filling, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat.
Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat; gently stir in lemon juice and butter. Cool to room temperature without stirring.
Once cupcakes are cooled, use a cookie scoop or small spoon to remove small portion of the middle of each cupcake. Spoon cooled and thickened lemon curd into a small ziplock bag, seal, then snip one corner and pipe into the well of each cupcake.
For frosting, in a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, egg whites, water and cream of tartar. With a portable mixer, beat on low speed for 1 minute. Continue beating on low over low heat until frosting reaches 160°, about 10 minutes.
DO NOT ADD COCONUT! 🙂 Transfer to a large bowl; add vanilla. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.
Spoon icing into another ziplock bag and similarly cut off a corner to pipe the frosting on top of each cupcake, hiding the lemon curd inside.
Sprinkle all cupcakes with coconut.