Tassie Cups with Whipped Lemon Curd Filling

I recently made some lemon curd and have so much left over that I have been trying to use it up and make fun concotions with it. What I love about lemon curd is that it will keep for up to three weeks, so it can be used for various desserts and recipes. So I did not want to let my lemon curd go to waste and was on a hunt to find a creative way to use it.

I came across a recipe for tassie cups, which is a butter cream cheese dough that makes little pie like crust cups, except the difference is these are a little thicker and a little richer due to the cream cheese. I thought I would use my lemon curd and some heavy whipping cream to creat a lighter mousse like taste and texture, topped off with whipped cream and a sliced strawberry for color. Thad being my tough and honest taste tester loved them and gave them a 10, so these are a must try. Another delicate dessert that is bite size that will melt in your mouth.

Tassie Cups
3 ounces of cream cheese (a cube is 8 ounces, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Start off by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a food processor, combine the softened cream cheese, softened butter, flour and salt. Pulse and grind until the mixutre forms into a ball. Then get a strip of plastic wrap and place it on the counter. Place the dough onto the center of the plastic wrap and wrap tightly into a ball. Place in refrigerator for 1 hour.


Once chilled divide dough into 24 little round half dollar size balls. Using a mini-cupcake pan place each ball in a cup (slightly greased). Pressing from the center out, press dough up the sides of the cup until the dough is evenly pressed up the cup. Then place them into the oven for 10-15 minutes until they are barely brown on the edges (mine took about 10 minutes).

Let the tassie cups cool completely, then remove them carefully from the pan and place on a cooling rack.

For the whipped curd take a half pint of heavy whipping cream and using a stand mixer, mix until the whip cream is pretty thick. Take out about a 1 1/2 cup whipping cream and set aside. Then using already made and cooled lemon curd, click for recipe here, mix 2 cups whipping cream and 1 cup lemon curd. Be careful that as you combine the two that you fold the curd into the whipping cream and not mix it. You want to keep the air in the mixture and stirring it will do the opposite.

Next take the 1 1/2 cups whipping cream and add a little drop of vanilla and a about 2 tablespoons powdered sugar to the mixture and stir.


Once the tassie cups are completely cooled, spoon in about a little over a tablespoon of whipped lemon curd into the cups (or fill until they are leveled with the tops of the cups). Then place a dabble of whip cream on top and for garnish and color, add a slice of strawberry.

This are light and delicious, a perfect summer treat!

Lemon Curd Poppy Seed Mini Cupcakes

My mother-in-law Pat put me in charge of making something for a Tea she was hosting (A Tea is like a bridal shower in the West). Of course I was up for the challenge and love doing this sort of thing. I tossed and turned over what I was going to make and finally I decided to essentially make the Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with lemon curd but alter the recipe to make mini cupcakes. I made 200 cupcakes, filled them with lemon curd and topped them with a whipping cream frosting. I even ordered pink cupcake holders to go with Emily's(the bride-to-be)colors. The process was a lot of fun, the finished product turned out fantastic and the cupcakes were like a little bit of heaven in your mouth.

So here is how I made these light and delicate treats.....


For this recipe I made the Lemon Poppy Seed Cake batter, click here for the recipe. I simply made the recipe and distributed the batter evenly in the mini-cupcake pan. I filled each cup a little under two-thirds full; baking at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes (depending on your oven), making sure they did not over cook. One batch of the batter makes about 100 mini-cupcakes.



Next for the filling, I made lemon curd, click here for the recipe. Once the lemon curd is made let it cool, then place in the refrigerator until completely chilled.



Using a pear knife cut a small and thin round hole in each cupcake. You want to have the hole go down as far as possible without making a hold in the bottom of the cupcake, to prevent the filling from linking out the bottom of the cupcake.


After the holes are made, take an icing bag, fill it with chilled lemon curd and using a standard round tip, lightly and carefully fill each hole with the lemon curd until the curd is even with the top of the muffin.


Meanwhile, this is what Thad did all day Saturday while Pat and I were inside cooking.....which I can't really blame him for doing(We were at Pat and Ray's house)


Lastly, for the frosting, I used a Butter Cream Frosting that I found at Tidymom and loved the creamy texture of this frosting, especially with this lemony cupcake. See the recipe below. Make sure that before you pipe the frosting onto the cupcake you chill the frosting for at least 30 minutes. Also another tip my mother-in-law taught me was to not put too much frosting into the icing bag at one time because as you hold the bag your hand will warm the icing making it hard to work with.



Here are the cupcakes all ready to take to the Tea.

Butter Cream Frosting
1 cup real butter (not margarine) *room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar
1/4 - 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer) thoroughly cream butter and shortening . Beat in the vanilla, mixing well. Add sugar, one cup at a time, stopping after each cup to scrape down the sides; mix until blended. When the sugar is completely beaten in and the sides of the bowl are scraped down, add the whipping cream, beating at the highest speed until super fluffy, for one to two minutes. Because of the whipping cream in this recipe it works best when chilled slightly but not too long. This is a great and light frosting, probably one of the best I have found.

So I hope you enjoy this great light dessert which is perfect for a bite size treat.

Bon Appetit!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake (with Lemon Curd)

Thad has a co-worker who is leaving his company to travel the world for a few months. I am impressed by Will (the world travelor) because of his courage to follow his dreams and I believe you are only young once and life is too short. So we decided that I was going to make him a farewell cake. I decided on my mom's Lemon Poppy Seed Cake (that she used when she made wedding cakes) and because I had made a big batch of lemon curd a few weeks prior and knew that a Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with buttermilk frosting and lemon curd filling would be light and tart, perfect for spring.

Please pardon how my cake looks, decorating cakes is something I have not done much of and am determined to make it a strength. The beauty of my cake does not reflect the amazing taste of the cake on the inside. And please note that I only put the best of the best recipes up here, recipes that I can stand behind!

Ok with that said, get ready to make a cake that is light, fresh, creamy and tart all at them same time. There are three steps to this cake. The first is the cake, the second is the lemon curd and the third is the buttermilk frosting.

Step 1:
Lemon Poppy-Seed Cake
1 box lemon cake mix (I use Betty Crocker)
1 package (3.4 oz) Jell-O Instant Lemon pudding
4 eggs
1 cup lemon yogurt or sour cream (I used yogurt)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2-4 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon rum extract

Begin by setting the oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9" cake rounds and set aside. Combine the cake mix, jello, eggs, yogurt, vegetable oil, poppy seeds, water and rum extract. For mixing instructions follow the back of the cake box. Once mixed, pour batter evenly into cake rounds place in oven and set time for 20-25 minutes. I start checking my cakes at 20 minutes sticking a butter knife in the center, once it comes out clean it is done. Make sure you do not over bake because this cake is best when moist. Placing parchment paper over a cooling rack, turn cakes out onto the rack and let cool completely.

Step 2:
Make your lemon curd. Click on Lemon Curd link for recipe.

Step 3:
Peggle's Buttermilk Frosting
1/3 cup butter (I usually overshoot on this measurement, more butter never hurts)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
*I add 1-2 tablespoons of milk to give it a creamier consistancy.

Note: I had to triple this recipe for the Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

This frosting is the best. So easy. Just mix all ingredients together until smooth and fluffy.

Once all three steps are completed (cake cooled, lemon curd made and frosting standing by)it is time to assemble this masterpeice of a cake. Slice each 9" round horizantally into even halves.


Place the first half on a platter of your choice. Then frost with frosting first and then spread with 3 tablespoons of lemon curd. Repeat this process 2 more times. For the exterior of the cake I frosted the entire thing and then spread the lemon curd on the top of the cake and then using a cake decorating bag, I made a frosting border. Once completely assembled place in the refigerator an hour or more to set. Then serve!

It was a hit at the farewell party for Will and is great for a garden party, wedding or shower. Once you make it, you will be hooked. Enjoy!

Lemony Lemon Curd

I was talking to my mom the other night and there is a cookie recipe that she has asked me to help her work on and one of the key ingredients is lemon curd. When she told me I could make my own lemon curd I was sort of intimidated and skeptical. I thought back to when I worked at William-Sonoma and how expensive a jar of their lemon curd was, $14 dollars, yes that is right $14 for a 12.5 oz. jar of lemon curd and thought there is no way I can make this delicate curd myself. But after a pep talk from my mom, I decided to take on the task.

What I love about lemon curd is that it has a custard feel to it but is made with all natural ingredients and there is no thickening agent like cornstarch or flour used. It has such a tart, light lemony taste to it, perfect for spring. What can you use Lemon curd for? For lots of good stuff. It is the filling my mom uses for her lemon poppy-seed wedding cakes, you can use it as a filling for a tarte, or spread it on some toast or use your left over egg whites and make Pavlova with a lemon curd filling.

Lemon Curd Recipe
2 cups sugar
12 large egg yolks (this is not a typo, 12 egg yolks it is)
1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1 cup unsalted butter room temp
2 Tbs. grated lemon peel


For this recipe since it requires you to be constantly stirring, make sure you have all your ingredients ready and on hand. Start off by combining the sugar and eggs in a medium sauce pan (save the egg whites which can keep in the refrigerator for up to a week).

Gradually add in the fresh lemon juice, stirring constantly over low heat until the mixture coats the back of the spoon, a little tip from my mom is, once you take the spoon out of the mixture and you can run your finger down the back of the wooden spoon and the line stays, it's done. It's important not to let the mixture boil. *Note that it will also thicken a great deal as it cools.

Take off heat and stir mixture to cool it down slightly. Then whisk in 1 Tbs. of butter at a time until all butter is incorporated. Stir in lemon zest. Cool and enjoy. This makes a large amount and will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator.

So easy to make and so much cheaper than buying it. Enjoy!