at long last...back in the kitchen with lemon chamomile cupcakes!

lucky me, lucky me...i was invited to a close friend's place over a long weekend we had here and guess what? he has an oven. it was like christmas, easter, birthday and all the other yearly celebrations coming in one great thigh-slapping whammo of an extravaganza. i was ecstatic! and so i was given free-reign in the kitchen to create, bake, explore and just enjoy the feel of the soft flour, cold butter and grainy sugar between my fingers again! ahhh, i have missed it so much. i contemplated just chaining myself to the oven and never leaving but alas, the call of duty forced my return back to my ovenless abode.

so my first creation...lemon camomile cupcakes. i adore the relaxing effect camomile has and i have often squeezed a bit of lemon into a cup of the tea to enhance the flavour. so i figured that a combo of lemon and camomile has got to go well together! and these were...light and fluffy with the tangy lemon icing...these are similar to the previous camomile cupcakes i made the only difference was the icing which was simply icing sugar and lemon juice mixed together until the desired consistency was reached. simply spoon it on...enough so that you get that mouth-watering drip effect as the icing hardens on it's way south. perfection in every bite!

thirst-quenchingly delicious lavender, lemon & mint ice tea!

so what DOES one do on a sunshine-y summery day when one is forced to exchange spatulas for paint brushes and help paint the house exterior??? (apart from be over-protective of one's hands and complain non-stop about the untold damage that this job is doing to fingers that should be insured for millions, like Fred Astaire's legs, simply because of the delectable delights they are capable of creating!)

well, when site foreman (aka dad) is not looking, quickly nip off to the kitchen, reach into cupboard for newly bought and much treasured lavender syrup, find a jug, pop in two tea bags, pour in hot water add 2 tablespoons of honey, let sit for a few minutes (while trying to pretend that you're looking for some painting gizmo or other!), then add mint leaves, sliced lemon, lots of ice and enough cold water to fill up the jug add 3 tablespoons of lavender syrup. stir not too vigorously and pour yourself a giant glass full. decorate with real lavender sprigs plucked from the garden, find a nice cosy spot (away from site foreman!) and enjoy the lovely sweet aromatic coolness in peace.

calming camomile cupcakes...perfect for a tea party!

so i recently saw a food blog event that seemed to tie in perfectly with my camomile tea project that i've been thinking about for a few days now. it's hosted by Skinny Gourmet and is all about tea. so if you're a big fan of the stuff then get over there and check out the event before it closes!

some time ago i discovered the most wonderful blend of tea by Twinings...camomile, honey and vanilla tea. this stuff is pure calmness in a cup and the smell of those three flavours together is enough to send you into a meditative state simply by inhaling the aroma.

then recently i managed to pick up some camomile chocolate...and i figured i'd like to incorporate it into the cupcake...a perfect garnish! so let's talk about the benefits of camomile...

Health benefits are:

1. Help induce sleep.
2. Calm nervous stomach and improve digestion.
3. Soothe skin irritations, including sunburn, heat rash and haemorrhoids.
4. Relieve toothache.
5. Improve bronchitis.
6. Help with bladder troubles.
7. Treat eye inflammation and infection
8. Heal mouth sores and prevent gum disease
9. Treat irritable bowel problems and various gastrointestinal complaints
10. Help regulate menstrual periods.
11. Reduce menstrual cramps.
12. Good for the kidneys and spleen health.
13. Help alleviate symptoms of the common cold.
14. Promote relaxation and alleviate stress.
15. Help to expel worms and other parasites.
16. Improve liver function and relieve jaundice.
17. Help prevent gangrene.
18. Relieve back pain.
19. Improve rheumatism.

so armed with two fabulous inspirations - tea and chocolate, i set to making my camomile cupcakes. i followed the recipe for the earl grey cupcakes that i made previously that began with a vanilla cupcake recipe and used camomile infused milk to incorporate the flavour of the tea. the only difference for this one is that i happened to have a burst camomile tea bag and i wanted to use those tea leaves for something. i had read in recipes before how you can just rip open the bags and use the tea leaves in the batter. well for ages, i thought this might be really weird, i figured the tea would stay all grainy and gritty in the cupcake and make for a nasty texture. oh, how wrong i was. the tea just kind of blended in to the cupcake and there was hardly any trace of it at all, instead just dark flecks of yellow were all that hinted that it was there. perfect! so this cupcake is almost a double camomile cupcake because it has camomile infused milk in it and camomile tea leaves. it made for a lovely rich strong flavour of the tea - which is exactly what i wanted.

i iced the cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream flavoured with a tablespoon of honey, and again the combination was perfect and just brought out those flavours in the cupcake. the whole cupcake was then garnished with a triangle of camomile chocolate. could you possible think of anything more relaxing than that?

my great taste-tester, my brother, immediately gobbled down three. he is a big fan of the tea and said the whole experience was like eating the tea in a cupcake. i did my usual one cupcake taste test and yes...it was sublime. mouthful after mouthful of absolute calm and serenity. i just loved it.

afternoon tea cupcakes with earl grey, raspberry jam and lemon cream...yummy!

don't know about you...but i simply LOVE earl grey tea and have done for years. i just love the distinct flavour of it explained by wikipedia :

Earl Grey tea is a tea blend with a distinctive flavour and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit.

i also thought i'd check out the benefits of drinking earl grey tea and found some interesting ones :

Key health benefits of Earl Grey

· Bergamot has been documented as a useful and healing fruit in 12th century Europe

· The Italians used bergamot for treating fever and intestinal worms

· Bergamot's main properties are as a disinfectant and an antidepressant

· The esters and alcohols present in bergamot reduce anxiety by calming the nervous system

· The active components in bergamot are antiseptic, germicidal as well as relaxing

· The catechin and fluoride content of black tea prevent tooth decay, while the antiseptic properties of bergamot can alleviate halitosis and oral infections

· Contains beneficial amounts of caffeine that helps you to think clearly

· The bergamot content fights flu, fevers and colds

so seeing as i'm such a fan the thought of earl grey infused cupcakes would naturally appeal to me. once i thought about how i would like to infuse the earl grey tea into the cupcakes, then i had to think about what i would like to go with the flavour...and that's when it struck me...afternoon tea cupcakes with all the elements of a good afternoon tea encompassed in the cupcake itself! and this is the result...my afternoon tea cupcake consisting of an earl grey cake, raspberry jam filling and lemon buttercream icing! simply perfect!
i tried to use the middle bit to make the cupcakes more like butterfly cakes! this is an homage to my youth when i usually always had butterfly cakes for birthdays. somehow though, my butterfly wings seemed a tad more chunky than those of my youth (maybe due to the fact that i was being greedy and cut such a big cone out wanting to fill it up with lovely raspberry jam - that will teach me!)
i used my vanilla cupcake recipe which you can find here but infused the milk with the earl grey tea. i did this simply by warming up the milk, putting two earl grey tea bags into the milk and then leaving it aside for 10 minutes. two tea bags gave a subtle result, but next time i'd probably use three or four just because i love the flavour. then i made the recipe as written. the tea turned the batter a darker colour which i liked and i could smell the earl grey distinct aroma as they came out of the oven. this has been a great experiment for me because i think using this method, you can probably infuse the flavour of any of your favourite teas into a cupcake...the possibilities on this one are endless so i must get out there and buy some boxes of all those amazing tea flavours they now sell in supermarkets.
the rest was easy...leave them to cool, cut out your cone shape from the top of the cupcake, fill with a teaspoon of your favourite jam and top with lemon buttercream. don't forget to replace those wings!
lastly but most importantly...enjoy with a dainty little cup of your favourite tea. and so, at that, i'm off to stick the kettle on. earl grey anyone?