Welcome spring with happy, hygge daisy cupcakes
Whimisical Bakeland book is full of pretty baked treats to put a smile on your face
While winter is over, it’s still pretty miserable outside as the trees are still bare and snow gives way to muddy ground covered in dead leaves.
Enter Bakeland: Nordic Treats Inspired by Nature ($35, Greystone Books Ltd.) by Norwegian graphic designer, photographer and recipe developer Marit Hovland. The dessert cookbook continues the hygge decorating trend in food form through cutesy cookies, confections (plenty of macarons) and cakes whimsically garnished with nature motifs that will surely put a smile on anyone’s face.
The recipes are the perfect weekend project to tackle over a cold and rainy April weekend.
I say “weekend” because this book isn’t for the beginner baker. The book’s 50 projects, split into chapters according to the seasons, is Instagram bait: a carrot cake resembling a pile of dirt with giant marzipan carrots growing out of it, strawberry-shaped macarons, and cookies made to look like birch bark through a clever use of crumbled Oreos.
Kids can get involved in a few of the simpler projects, such as the rosemary cupcakes (recipe below) and a crispy hazelnut cookie with a glaze of icing that tastes like a Nutella biscuit.
The projects are ambitious but not impossible as long as the home cook is patient — and has a steady hand for decorating.
Rosemary Cupcakes With Lemon Cream Star Tested
This is one of the easier recipes in the book, as it doesn’t require expert decorating skills. As someone who doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, I love that these cupcakes are flavoured by a little tart lemon-cream filling rather than a giant plop of teeth-numbing frosting. Rosemary adds an unexpected savoury element and gives it a more sophisticated, herbaceous flavour. The daisy stencil I used is included in the book, but you can make whatever flower shape you like. Save this recipe for Mother’s Day brunch or an afternoon tea party. For the lemon cream 2 large egg yolks 1/3 cup (80 mL) granulated sugar 2 tbsp (30 mL) lemon juice 2 tbsp (30 mL) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes Fill a small pot with 2 inches (5 cm) water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Place egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice into a heatproof bowl and place over pot of simmering water. Do not let bowl touch water. Stir frequently with a flexible spatula. Continue to stir until sugar has dissolved and mixture thickens slightly, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in cold butter, allowing mixture to cool and thicken to a consistency similar to a curd. Set aside. For the cupcakes 1/4 cup (60 mL) unsalted butter, room temperature 2/3 cup (160 mL) granulated sugar 2 large eggs 3/4 cup (180 mL) light sour cream 1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour 1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder 1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) kosher salt 11/2 tsp (7 mL) dried rosemary Lemon cream, see above Powdered sugar, for decorating Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) and prepare middle rack. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With mixer still going, add eggs one at a time. Continue to mix until well-combined. Turn off mixer. Fold in sour cream with a rubber spatula.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Sift flour mixture into wet ingredients, a third at a time.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in flour mixture until there are no lumps or streaks, before adding more of flour mixture. Crush rosemary into smaller pieces using fingers or a mortar and pestle. Fold rosemary into batter.
Fill each cupcake liner 2/3-full of batter. Use an offset spatula to smooth out batter if needed. Gently tap pan against counter to get rid of air bubbles. Bake on middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tops of cupcakes begin to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in centre of cupcake comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes before removing from cupcake tin. Allow cupcakes to cool completely at room temperature before decorating.
To decorate, create a small,1-inch-deep (2.5 cm) hole in centre of each cupcake using an apple corer or a chopstick. Make a flower stencil using thick card stock or cardboard. Place centre of flower stencil over hole. Dust with powdered sugar over cupcake. Remove stencil. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. Fill each hole with lemon cream with a piping bag or a small spoon, enough to form a raised dot in centre of flower.
Cupcakes can be made up to two days in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Decorate with powdered sugar and fill with lemon cream before serving.
Makes 12 cupcakes. Cook This Book is a bi-weekly column that looks at the latest cookbooks hitting the stands. Email karonliu@thestar.ca