Mother's Day Baking

Sadly, it seems the only time I get to bake anymore is for an occasion  I miss baking just for the hell of it. When things were calmer at work I'd sometimes concoct a dream dessert and before I knew it, BAM, it was coming out of the oven preparing to be devoured. One day I hope to return to a more pleasant and care-free existence. In the meantime, my skills shall be kept alive by the fact that Mother's Day kicks off what I like to refer to as "Family Birthday-Holiday Season."

Because I enjoy giving gifts (and belting out "Happy Birthday" at full volume), this time of the year (May-August) isn't as unpleasant for me as it could otherwise be. In addition to Mother's and Father's Day, mother's birthday is in June and Father, Sister, and Grandmom round out the summer with their August trifecta of birthdays. If I didn't hate summer so much I'd plot to one day wed amidst it just to give myself a holiday to call my own (and more importantly, for which I could receive gifts). But alas, always a bridesmaid and never a bride, I shall resign myself to another summer of gift giving and baking. 

This year, Sister was absent from our Mother's Day festivities (and if you're wondering, yes, she was still the favorite despite being absent), so I found myself with a smaller audience for which to bake for. Since Mother's Day is a shared occasion amongst the women-folk, I had to be respectful of all dessert preferences. AS and Grandmom can't have chocolate and mother loves chocolate more than anything. I struggled with how to reconcile these competing interests, not wishing to make one chocolate-free dessert for the group since I'd just made this lemon cake for Easter. After giving it some thought my eureka moment happened. I'd make two desserts, but half both the recipes as to end up with an acceptable amount for our small group. It was a stroke of genius that I remain proud of. 

First up, for the woman that birthed me and has since had to put up with, as she likes to refer to it, "my strong-will and difficult personality," I created these:

One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

*Original recipe courtesy of Sophisticated Gourmet

Ingredients 

[Note: these measurements are for the half version I made (6 extra-large cupcakes), follow original for a larger batch]

For Cake

• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 3/8 + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/8 cup + 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/8 tsp baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 of 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/8 cup canola oil
• 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup boiling water

For Icing

• 6 Tbsps unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 ¼ cups powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
• ¾ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp light corn syrup

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line muffin tins with paper liners. [I'd discovered my Sister's giant muffin pan in the basement while gathering supplies and thus decided to make 6 giant cupcakes/mini cakes....a little secret, I hate making cupcakes because then you have to icing them all individually, so the fewer cupcakes I ultimately have to icing, the better.]

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt

3. Mix in half an egg, Greek yogurt, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined

4. Bring water to a boil (this takes literally no time with such a small amount). Pour boiling water into the mix and slowly mix starting from the center. The batter will be liquidy, but this is normal

5. Divide batter evenly among the lined cups and bake for 15-19 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of each cupcake comes out clean

6. Allow cupcakes to cool for a few minutes in their tin post-bakng, then transfer to wire racks for the remainder of their cooling process. Let them cool completely before applying icing

7. While they're cooling, you can prepare the icing. Begin by combining the melted butter and cocoa powder in a stand mixture until smooth

8. Alternately mix in milk and powdered sugar, mixing at medium speed in between. Add additional milk if icing is too dry. Finish by adding vanilla extract and light corn syrup

9. Once cupcakes are cool, dress in icing and top with sprinkles (because I love any excuse to use sprinkles)

And for the woman who birthed my mother, I created these:

Lemon Tartletts

*Original recipe found here

Ingredients
[Note: I also went a little rogue in the portion size on these, although instead of halving the recipe, I made them in a slight smaller than normal muffin tin rather than the mini version called for in the original version]

For Tart Shells

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

For Filling

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp butter melted 
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Preparation

1. Preheat over to 325F and spray muffin tin with Pam

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg white and blend well

3. Next, add flour and mix until well blended. (You can chill dough slightly at this juncture or just power through. I did the latter and it wasn't as sticky as I fear it would be). Divide dough into muffin cups and press into tart shells

4. For filling, lightly whisk eggs. Whisk in sugar and butter, lemon zest and juice. Mix well. Pour filling evenly into tart shells

5. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove pan to cooling rack for 5 minutes, then remove tartletts from pan and cool on rack. Cool completely before storing in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator

6. At serving time, give them a little dusting with powdered sugar and yell "TaDa" for dramatic effect!

Happy Mother's Day!

With Grandmom and Mother after they enjoyed my baked goods