Blueberry Earl Grey Cupcakes

Blueberries and Earl Grey tea may sound like a strange combination, but when you try these cupcakes, you’ll be amazed by how well these flavors mesh.  The light citrusy flavor of the Earl Grey tea complements the fresh blueberry flavor of the preserves, and the cake itself is light and fluffy.  The blueberry preserves keeps the cake from drying out and the additional flavor transforms ordinary cupcakes into something special. 

Earl Grey Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This Earl Grey Swiss Meringue Buttercream looks beautiful speckled with earl grey tea and has a light, slightly citrusy flavor.  In the above picture, I’ve paired this buttercream with Buttermilk Yellow Cake and Blueberry Preserves in my Blueberry Earl Grey Cupcakes.
 

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 sticks butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
• About ½ to 1 teaspoon loose leaf earl grey tea (amount should be adjusted to taste; some brands of earl grey tea have stronger flavor than others)

In a spice grinder or food processor (I use the Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor), grind or process the earl grey tea leaves until they become a fine powder.  I used a fine mesh sieve to make sure the tea leaves were fine enough so that when mixed into the buttercream, it will not lose its smooth, silky texture.  Set aside.  

Whisk together egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl over simmering water until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are warm.  Using a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until meringue is a glossy white and can hold stiff peaks, about 3-5 minutes.  Add the Earl Grey tea powder and beat until evenly distributed.  

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the butter all at once.  Slowly increase the speed to high and beat until mixture is homogeneous, about 2 minutes. 

Mini Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes

These bite-sized Mini Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes are refreshing and light; perfect for dessert on a warm day.  When you bite into the mini cupcake, you immediately taste sweet strawberries from the preserves; then the subtle citrus flavor of lemon shines through from the cupcake. 

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a beautiful pink color and is perfect with a variety of cupcake flavors.  In the above picture, I’ve paired this buttercream with Mini Lemon Cupcakes in my Mini Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes.  

Boston Cream Cupcakes

In my twist of the classic Boston Cream Pie, I filled light Two Egg Yellow Chiffon Cupcakes with creamy Vanilla Bean Custard and piped Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream on top. 

Ingredients:

• 24 Two Egg Yellow Chiffon Cupcakes, cooled
• 1 recipe Vanilla Bean Custard, refrigerated until set
• 1 recipe Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Take a small paring knife and core the each cupcake, leaving ¼ inch of cake on the bottom and about ½ an inch of cake on the sides. 

Fill the center of each cupcake with vanilla custard.  I found that using a small spoon and simply spooning in the custard works perfectly. 

Using a spatula, add the chocolate swiss meringue buttercream to a piping bag set with a large star tip.  Pipe the frosting on the cupcakes, starting at the edge and moving in a smooth, circular motion as you bring the tip above the center of each cupcake. 

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream is the perfect topping for almost any cake or cupcake.  It has the distinct flavor of chocolate without giving up the light, creamy texture of a Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream. 

Two Egg Yellow Chiffon Cupcakes

This Two Egg Yellow Chiffon Cupcake recipe is your basic yellow chiffon cake.  In a chiffon cake, egg whites are beaten stiff, then folded into the cake batter to achieve a light, fluffy cake.  This is a very versatile cake and can be paired with a variety of fillings and frostings. 

One of my personal favorite combinations is this Two-Egg Yellow Chiffon Cake filled with Vanilla Bean Custard and frosted with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream, as shown in my Boston Cream Cupcakes. 

Meyer Lemon Meringue Tart

The billowy, sweet Vanilla Bean Meringue offsets the rich, tartness of the lemon custard in this Meyer lemon meringue tart.

I adapted this recipe from Bouchon's Tarte au Citron.   Instead of using Bouchon’s Pine Nut Crust, I made the tart shell with a Pâte Sucrée and shaped it to fit a rectangular tart pan.  The Meyer lemon filling is made using the sabayon method, where the egg mixture is whisked and slowly heated over simmering water until it has thickened and increased in volume.  I piped meringue on top and used a torch to get the nice brown color. 

Vanilla Bean Meringue

If you have some extra egg whites lying around, a good way to use them is in this vanilla bean meringue.  Light, fluffy, sweet meringue makes a nice contrast to rich or tart fillings in pies and tarts, such as the filling in my Meyer Lemon Meringue Tart.