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Over The Rainbow: Lemon Drop Rainbow Cupcakes for IronCupcake:Earth

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

IronCupcake:Earth is back! After taking a brief hiatus, this year’s first monthly challenge is Music! I’m excited to participate, considering I’m completely addicted to music.

The inspiration for this cupcake comes from one of the most famous songs in history, Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland.

I, like many other kids, grew up watching The Wizard of Oz. It is such a whimsical movie and I always had a soft spot for Toto. I really wanted a pair of ruby slippers, too. One of my favorite quotes comes from The Wizard of Oz; “A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.”

2009 marks the 70th anniversary of this classic movie. To celebrate, Warner Bros. has released a digitally remastered, high definition version.

Now on to the cupcakes!

The cupcake itself is a rainbow lemon cupcake with bits of lemon drops (hard candies) mixed in the batter. Why lemon drops you ask?

“Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops…”

They are topped off with a “cloud” of marshmallow frosting. I’m pretty sure if you could taste a cloud it would be made of marshmallows. It just has to be.

I searched for real lemon drops in my local grocery store but the only ones they carried had never seen actual lemons. So I ordered some old-fashioned, 100% naturally flavored lemon drops made by Claeys Candies (since 1919).

To crush the lemon drops, I double bagged them in zip top bags and took a hammer to them, on a cutting board of course. It was very therapeutic. Once they were a manageable size, I put them in my 4-cup chopper and chopped/ground them until they were 1/8″ or smaller. When the lemon drops bake in the cupcakes, they melt and leave behind little bursts of lemony goodness.

Lemon Drop Rainbow Cupcakes – Makes about 2 dozen
adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes (originally Lemon Meringue recipe)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (about 3 medium lemons)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup crushed lemon drops

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line standard cupcake tins with liners.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together; set aside.

With an electric mixer on medium-high, cream the butter and sugar (using the paddle attachment) until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each one. Scrape down the sides of bowl if needed. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Combine the buttermilk and lemon juice in small bowl or measuring cup. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with two additions of the buttermilk/lemon juice mixture. Beat until just barely combined after each addition.

Gently fold in the crushed lemon drops. To avoid the batter getting too stiff, try not to overmix when adding the lemon drops. It will be mixed even more when you add the colors.

Divide the batter into 1 cup increments and put into 5 separate small bowls (if doing 5 colors). Gradually add food coloring to each bowl, until you get to your desired colors. Stir gently to make sure there aren’t any remaining streaks of color.

To measure the coloring I dipped a toothpick about 3/4″ into each jar of color (with the exception of the green, see below), swirled it through the batter and mixed throughly.

Here are the colors and amount of coloring I used from the bottom of the cupcake to the top:

Put 1 teaspoon (slightly heaped) batter of your first color in each of the cupcake cups. I gently smoothed out only the first color, just to get an even bottom. Repeat with the other colors.

Bake at 325°F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. Decorate!

Marshmallow Frosting
adapted from MarthaStewart.com

8 large egg whites
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a heatproof bowl of an electric mixer, place egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. Set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk the mixture constantly until the egg whites are warm to the touch and the sugar is dissolved, 3 to 4 minutes.

Transfer the bowl to electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high, beat until the mixture is stiff and glossy peaks form (5 to 7 minutes). Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Use immediately, as the marshmallow frosting will continue to stiffen.

Makes enough for 2 dozen cupcakes.

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