More Lemony Goodness

I am a cupcake hater. I'm sorry. I know they're cute and whatever, but the cupcake craze? No. No, I will not pay that outrageous price for a mini piece of cake drenched in frosting. I would rather have a real slice of cake. Or a whole cake. Or ice cream. So the reason why these were born is because I knew I would have too much lemon mousse, and I thought lemon mousse and raspberry filled anything would be good.

I don't know if its the heat in San Diego right now or what but the cupcakes and the italian meringue buttercream did not turn out the way I wanted them to, at all. The buttercream firmed up a bit in the fridge so it was pipe-able but it didn't do that whole 'coming together' thing in the mixer that always makes me tremendously happy. But besides those problems, the combination was really good.

I used the cone method to hollow out the cupcakes, then I placed a raspberry in the middle, piped some lemon mousse and put the top back on. Pipe on some buttercream and plop on a few raspberries and you have something that will make the girls screech and swoon. The lemon mousse required lemon curd which I have never had or made before in my life but since I had all the ingredients I decided to give it a go- the recipe I used tasted a little too eggy for me, maybe because I consciously know how many eggs went into it or because that's how it's supposed to taste. I don't know. But in the mousse, it was fantastic.

I won't give the cupcake recipe because I just don't think it was a very good one- use your favorite vanilla cupcake or cake recipe if you want to make these.
Lemon Curd
(from Emily Luchetti's Four-Star Desserts)

4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Fill a medium pot 1/3 full of water and bring to a very low boil.

In a medium heatproof bowl whisk together egg yolks, egg, 1/2 cup sugar. Whisk in 1/2 cup lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pot of water making sure water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick, about 10 minutes.

Strain the curd into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd (to prevent a skin from forming). Chill curd until cold

Lemon Mousse
from the Culinary School of the Rockies

2 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin
2 oz fresh lemon juice
10 oz heavy cream (medium peaks)
8 oz lemon curd, freshly made or warmed
1 oz light corn syrup
1/2 tsp lemon extract

Bloom gelatin in lemon juice then melt it to 100°F. Whip the heavy cream to medium peaks. Cover and put in refrigerator. Blend together the warm curd with the corn syrup and the lemon extract, stirring with a whisk. Add the melted gelatin to the curd. Strain and cool the mixture to 70°F. Temper 1/2 of the whipped cream into the curd mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Immediately use the mousse, cover and refrigerate until set.