Page 142 Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

"Tender lemon buttermilk cake, tart lemon curd, and a lightly browned peak of seven-minute frosting combine in cupcakes inspired by Martha's mile-high lemon meringue pie -- one of her signature desserts." - Martha

These are so precious looking and they taste divine! If you have never made Martha's mile-high pie, you NEED to make these cupcakes. The lemon curd is best recipe ever...it's hard to resist not putting it on the cupcakes and just eating the whole pot of curd! Not too sweet, not too tart, just right! Goldilocks would love it!

Two things: ran out of buttermilk (so many of her recipes call for it) I used regular 1% milk...no difference; and I don't know why the recipe is titled lemon "meringue" when she uses the seven minute frosting...albeit it is similar to meringue, but not the same. I made meringue for my cupcakes and baked them under the broiler for the toasting on top of the peaks. I do not own a small kitchen torch and chose not to get one. Although this would have been a perfect excuse to go ahead and indulge in a frivolous purchase of one, but I held myself back from Williams Sonoma today.

I saw Martha make these on her show not too long ago; it was funny because it was the first time I saw her almost re-do her guests attempt at the same cupcakes she was working on decorating. You could see it in her eyes..."she's not doing a very good job, uh, I can fix it, it looks sloppy, no, I'll let it be, but I really want to make it perfect, perhaps I'll make the suggestion to..." Oh well, all that counts is that Martha is still the queen of daytime cooking and craft shows! She is perfection. It's a Good Thing!

Page 56 Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

"Inspiration for new cupcakes can come from anywhere, even a popular childhood sandwich. The creamy peanut butter frosting may be crowned with any jelly or jam flavor, strawberry, grape or raspberry wouldbe delicious. For the best flavor, use natural-style peanut butter in the cupcake batter." - Martha

If you love peanut butter cookies, you will treasure these cupcakes. They not only awaken all of your senses: they look so precious, the texture is just the right amount of fluffiness, the scent is so tantalizing it brings wonderful childhood memories to the forefront of your mind and these cupcakes taste like the real thing too; but they are so easy to make!

If you are not a baker on a regular basis and think that baking anything from scratch is hard, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that this recipe is easy as, well, making a PB&J! The ingredients are probably already in your pantry and frig. What a great treat for your kiddos when they come home from school.

I know that when I read this recipe, I really thought it sounded good; I figured my kiddos would too since they grew up on the sandwich. Alas, only one child remarked good things about them, but that's all it took in my mind to get the job done! This recipe by direction makes 22 cupcakes, but I halved the totals and made 12 full-sized cupcakes. So, I'm thinking that a full recipe would have made 24. I made the creamy peanut butter frosting Martha recommends but I also adapted my own twist too. I know there are those who only like cake and those who die for frosting! These cupcakes taste so good that adding frosting to them could be considered too sweet! So in lieu of the icing, I simply added a dollup of jelly to the top of the cupcake before baking. Much like a thumbprint cookie with the jelly baked right on top, the jelly in the cake was perfect. So you can make these with or without the frosting and they still have the flavor and tradition of a PB&J.

Page 93 Tiny Cherry and Almond Tea Cakes

"Make the most of fresh cherry season by baking the little stone fruits right into charming tea cakes. The cakes made with ground almonds, brown butter, and egg whites, are similar to financiers, which are small, springy brick-shaped cakes named for their resemblance to gold bullion. These cakes are baked with the pits left inside the cherries (be sure to warn guests before serving). Or, if you prefer, remove the pits before baking, leaving the stems intact." - Martha

Aren't these just the cutest little treats? I liked this recipe alot for many reasons. 1 - It only made a small amount of mini cupcakes, 30, and you can half this recipe like I did so just to make enough for breakfast, no left-overs. 2- The recipe has liquor in it...how haute cuisine! I love anything with liqour in it; it's an excuse that I don't partake very often, so why not? 3 - I love dark, sweet cherries during the summer. When I was young we used to pick cherries in my grandfather's backyard and I have such grand memories of good times with my sisters and parents there.

I definitely pitted my cherries before I baked up these delightful cakes. After having cracked a tooth earlier in life, I did not want to take the chance on doing it again or heaven-forbid having one of my children crack their teeth on a pit because of me. (Also, it gave me the opportunity to use my cherry-pitter!) I really can't believe the original recipe calls for leaving them in! For my substitutions, I used walnuts instead of almonds; I didn't think I could do without any nutmeat because the batter would end up too runny but I didn't have any almonds in the house. So I added 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to make up for the absence of the nut. And then since I didn't have any Kirsch brandy, I used my fall-back Amaretto instead. Seemed to make as much sence as the Kirsch in my opinion. Also, since I cut the recipe in half, I didn't think that splitting 5 egg whites would be fitting so I simply used 2 full eggs in the batter.

I had no problem with the way things mixed up; the batter looked good and tasted great. And I also had no problems with the baking of the teacakes so I guess it all worked out just right. These are so tasty; I love the flavor of the cherries and almonds together, always have. However, they turned out a bit darker than I would have wanted. I baked them in a timed oven and didn't return to take them out until a hour later. They are very tender inside, but the extra time in a warm oven got them caramel colored instead of a light golden tone. Next time, I'll stay home while they bake...it's only for 12 minutes!

Page 60 Brown Sugar Pound Cakes

"Pound Cake batters bake into especially rich and dense cupcakes, and the traditional recipe can be adapted in so many ways to vary the flavor and texture. In this version, brown sugar replaces granulated for a hint of caramel flavor, while buttermilk makes for a more tender crumb than when made with regular milk. Nutty brown-butter icing pairs especially well with these cupcakes, but many other topping would also work, including brown-sugar cream cheese frosting or whipped cream." - Martha

Wow! These were so simple to make and so rich and delicious. I don't know how accurate Martha's comment of using buttermilk would make the more tender crumb is because I used regular milk (1%) and these pound cakes turned out so rich and tasty I can't imagine a more tender crumb. But, I'll have to take her word for it; what that means is, no matter how delicious and wonderful I think mine turned out, they would be that much better had I used buttermilk! Wow!

This recipe made 28 cupcakes...exactly 28! I mean really, there was barely a fingertip-full by the time I filled all of the cups. Now, I found this unusual because I normally have enough batter leftover to eat at least one cupcake worth of batter and there was only a scraping of it left in the bowl. Bummer! But what I got I knew would have good results in the baking of it.

Martha suggests using the brown-butter icing but since I had already chosen to use that frosting on a previous cupcake, I chose to highlight these cupcakes with strawberries and ice cream. I grew up having strawberry shortcakes with pound cake as the main ingredient so why not these? Oh, and man oh man! They are so good that way! Imagine pound cake, fresh strawberries, Bluebell vanilla bean and then that extra special flavor of the brown sugar bringing that caramel hint to the mix! Scrumptious!

Page 25 Carrot Cupcakes

"A well-loved American layer cake is scaled down to cupcake form. Golden raisins give these cakes added texture, but you can omit them. You can also add one cup walnuts or pecans; toast them, let cool, then finely chop before stirring into the batter at the end, after the flour mixture. Unfrosted carrot cupcakes make delicious snacks." - Martha

Whenever I make carrot cake I always think to myself how good it'll taste and how carrot cake is one of my husband's favorites. But, I also always forget how LONG it takes to peel and grate all of those carrots! One full pound of carrots is required for a full batch. I liked the fact that even though Martha recommends using two bowls, one for liquid/one for dry ingredients, I managed to use only one bowl by mixing my carrots and eggs, etc and then sifting the dry ingredients into it. I like a one-bowl recipe.

This recipe calls for a vanilla bean seeded and scraped or the pure extract...I used the extract because my beans were too dry. (Spent too much time in the frig without use, I guess.) I also added to the recipe some dried cranberries (flavored like cherries) because I only had one tiny box of golden raisins in the house. Usually, my boys won't eat raisins anyway, so this was a great substitution. I did not add the pecans...I forgot.

I made one sheet of regular-sized cupcakes and one sheet of minis. I liked the look of the minis but you know what that problem is? You never remember how many you've had and before you know it, they're half gone! Minis are very easy to eat and forget about. I baked the minis for 18 minutes each and the regular cupcakes for 28 minutes each with the convection going.

I chose to use the cream cheese frosting (no one in their right mind should ever choose otherwise) but I didn't have any coconut on hand for garnishing (Oops! It's in the freezer, I just remembered.) but I like the tiny touch of frosting, shaped into a heart, rather than the whole cake being covered anyway. These definitely make a great quick and healthy snack for the kiddos coming home from school on any given afternoon.

Page 34 Devil's Food Cupcakes

"Some believe devil's food cake got its name because it's so tempting, others think that the deep, dark color is "devilish." Whatever it's history, the cake is typically made with melted butter (instead of oil) and a hefty amount of cocoa powder. This version mixes sour cream into the batter to add moistness and a subtle tang. Silky smooth ganache makes a rich topping; other options include seven-minute frosting and cream cheese frosting. The chocolate curls are easily made with a few strokes of a vegetable peeler, but you can omit them." - Martha

I guess 3/4 cup of cocoa powder is hefty; I just think it's appropriate! This is a super easy recipe to follow and all of the ingredients are pretty standard in your kitchen's pantry. It's amazing how much more satisfying a home-made cupcake is to eat as compared to a box mix-made one. The flavor of course is more rich but the texture is very fluffy and yet crisp at the same time. The only thing I didn't like about this recipe is that it's one of those that you have to use so many different bowls and pots. Heat this, blend that, sift these and mix in here. But it was worth it.

There wasn't much to change out for this cupcake, but I did choose to make only half a recipe again, you know the reasons why by now. I went out on a limb and chose a marshmallow cream frosting and added graham cracker crumbs as a sprinkle topping. I liked the contrast between the two on the top and it now tastes similarly like a S'more. So that's my twist on a good ol' standard cupcake. Let's go camping!

Page 99 Raspberry Marble Cheesecakes

"Smaller adaptations of favorite desserts, such as raspberry-swirled cheesecake, are always appealing. Everyone gets his or her own, with plenty of buttery graham-cracker crust in each bite. Drops of fresh raspberry puree are pulled through cream cheese batter to give the cakes a marbelized look. Baking the cupcakes in a hot-water bath produces the creamiest results and prevents the batter from sinking in the oven." - Martha

Loved the pictures of these cakes. So juicy and creamy looking! Making cheesecakes, in general, is not that hard a process. I've always stuck to the same recipe: per one block of cream cheese add 1/2 t vanilla, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 egg. They always seem to come out great. This recipe called out for a bit different distribution: less sugar, more eggs. Anyway, still very easy.

I chose not to use graham-crackers because I didn't have any (as usual they mysteriously disappeared from the pantry before I got a chance to use them.) So I had some Chocolate Chunk Cookie dough in the frig and decide to bake those to place in the bottom of my cupcakes instead. I really felt like they would do the trick because the cookie dough was stable enough and the chocolate could only compliment the raspberries at the least! I baked those just a bit shy of the 18 minutes usually needed, about 13 minutes. I figured they would bake some more in the oven with the chessecake batter on them and still not be too crisp. I wanted them soft-ish. Otherwise I follwed the recipe as is.

My raspberry puree was perfect, the batter looked good and creamy and tasted the part. I placed the cookies in the bottom of each paper-lined cup and filled them 3/4 the way to the top with batter as directed. I also placed each tin of cakes into a water bath to bake.

I ended up having to bake them about 35 minutes instead of the 22 minutes as Martha reccommends. At 22 minutes they still looked liquidy and I thought they should be more solid. At 35 they still looked slightly liquidy but overall more solid, no sinking batter and very beautiful! So I took them from the oven and let them cool abit. I placed them in the frig for 4 hours or more to firm up. When I took them out to display and photograph, I found that they were not only still liquid-ish but the paper liners were soaked and were tearing upon trying to lift them from the tins! This I did not enjoy. As you can see by the photo, the paper liners are not round anymore (and these were the good pics) and we had to eat them with a spoon from the paper liners because there was no way the paper would peel from the cheesecake without a huge mess.

I am disappointed in this recipe. I wouldn't mind making them again, but I'd use my own cheesecake recipe and add raspberry puree to it. I think I will also use my silicone baking cups just in case. For some reason the liners were so soaked that I can't tell if it came from the batter or if while cooking in the water bath, it bubbled up and got into the paperliners and tin forms.

Nonetheless, they tasted great; definitely creamy cakes! Perhaps even a larger cheesecake with this recipe would turn out OK with more time in the oven.