Bring Out the Sun

Lemons!

Today is a gorgeous day in New England.  One of the first real days of spring, even if the official event is still a couples days off.  A couple weeks ago, however, it was the middle of the dullest part of February winter.  The doldrums when winter seems endless.  It's about this time of year that I like to play with lemons.  

Lemons are a great winter fruit that somehow banish the grey gloom of the season in every citrusy bite.  Today I will do a quick review of two truly fantastic lemon recipes for those of you who may still have a few more grey days ahead before spring and summer come back in force.

We'll start with a King Arthur Flour recipe that I made a couple weeks ago to make Braided Lemon Bread and then I'll discuss Eating Well's Lemon Pavlova.

Beyonce Coundown Cupcakes

First thing first, if you haven't seen Beyonce's Countdown video, you should watch.  Seperate from the following post, it's just a great video.

This video was the inspiration for my friend's cupcakes that I made yesterday.  Using a basic chocolate cake recipe and store bought frosting, I focused my energy on the design more than the cake itself.

Here's the finished product with a step-by-step after the jump:

Interesting Cupcakes

One of my favorite things to do when it snows - like it is today - is to bake.  This blog has so far focused on knitting quite a bit, but among the topics I intend to showcase here is baking.  To me there is something wonderful about taking ingredients and creating something that is both beautiful and delicious.

The last time it snowed I didn't have any convenient excuses to bake, but today is a good friend's birthday.  I spent some time this morning trying to decide if I would make her cupcakes that are interesting (i.e. unusual flavors of the key lime, Guinness chocolate, or fig-filled varities) or that look interesting (i.e. like a lion, Wonder Woman, or a spaceship).  I'm falling into the latter for this project given the person in question.

I have yet to gather my ingredients, but I figured I would show off some previous cupcakes of the kind I intend to make and tomorrow do a post on what I actually made and how.  For now, enjoy these photos.


First, for my cousin's birthday.  Since she works at the Bronx Zoo and majored in Fish (well, close, but not exactly), my sister and I made lion, elephant, fish, and giraffe cupcakes for her:

I made these for my own birthday a couple years ago.  My favorite animals, from the left, ladybugs, elephants (again), koalas, and turtles: