Iron Cupcake July!

So, as everyone knows, I am in love with baking, and more specifically, baking and eating cupcakes. Through all of my online research for ideas and recipes, I stumbled upon Iron Cupcake World. Basically, similarly to the 'Iron Chef' television show, anyone who is interested can become a member, and once a month a new ingredient is introduced to which you need to create a cupcake including or showcasing that specific ingredient. Without any hesitation I immediately joined and got moving, after all, what isn't a good reason to bake and create cupcakes at least once a month? :)

The July ingredient was "herbs" so immediately I thought to use something refreshing and summery, and lemongrass was the first thing that came to my mind.

Lemongrass is most commonly used in Thai food, and from even more research I found that it is rarely used in making baked goods. Oh, and it’s really stringy, so after playing around with a few tries the best way to get some of the flavor of it was to boil it down in order to incorporate it into the recipe. I also added some lemon zest so that the lemon flavor would really 'pop' in the cupcake, and incorporated the rest of the lemongrass ‘juice’ that I created from the lemongrass into the icing so that the lightness of that herb would carry through.

I tend to bake a lot of vegan treats, so I am no stranger to substituting apple sauce for eggs and using earth balance or margarine for butter. And even though I am entertaining a group of non-vegans tonight, I wanted to have the sweetness of applesauce with the sourness of the lemon and lemongrass, so I did include an egg in there to fill the recipe out, but overall I think I prefer applesauce (and if you do decide to make this vegan, make sureeee you put enough baking powder in there!)

For the icing, I tend to go with a non-buttercream frosting so that it can last longer out of the fridge, and if you so choose to get crafty and decorate it will stiffen up nicely.

Lemongrass Cupcakes

1 stalk lemongrass

1 cup flour

¾ cup sugar

3 tbsp applesauce

4 tbsp butter, softened

1 lemon

1 egg

½ tsp baking powder

For the icing:

1 cup vegetable shortening

1 lb confectioner's sugar

lemon zest

Cut the stalk of lemongrass into 1-2” pieces, and boil on high for 5 minutes in 1 cup of water. Turn off heat and set aside.

1. Combine flour, sugar, applesauce, and butter in a mixing bowl
2. Remove lemongrass stalks from the water and put 2 tbsp of the ‘lemongrass juice’ into the mixture
3. add zest of ½ a small lemon, 1 egg, baking powder, and mix until smooth
4. Add food coloring if you desire (I added a few drops because I tend to be overly-festive and love foods with bright colors)
   
5. cook on 375 for 15 minutes or until the tops begin to brown

For the icing:

1. Using a mixer, blend together 1 cup of vegetable shortening and 1 lb of confectioner's sugar
2. add 3 tbsp of the lemongrass 'juice' and lemon zest to taste

I got great reviews of this cupcake at the dinner party that I catered, and think that especially for summery get-togethers or parties, lemon is the way to go. I'm so glad I found Iron Cupcake, but that's not the end of it just yet -- I need your help!

Iron Cupcake holds votes for 5 days afters the baking period ends (the 24th of every month at 12 noon). And all of the bakers are competing for a really great prize pack:

Our July ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
• A delicious treat from CIRCLEMONKEY http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5335273
  
• a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
  
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

So starting then, if I may be so bold, PLEASE click on the badge below and vote for my cupcake!! Tell your friends, and if you try out the recipe let me know what you think!!





Thanks guys!!