Hello friends! I hop you've had a restful long weekend. Of course, no matter how long the weekend is, it never feels long enough, does it?
A few days ago we were figuring out the menu for our Memorial Day family get-together. I, of course, wanted to bake something new and fun. As I was in thinking mode, Nate happened to mention as an aside that he was afraid to open our bottle of Bloomery Cremma Lemma. What is Cremma Lemma and why would he be afraid to open it?
Bloomery is a distillery in West Virginia. I mentioned it once before on this blog (see Creamsicle Overnight Oats). We love the place and have stopped there every time we've been in West Virginia, most recently for our birthdays last year. Bloomery makes these amazing liqueurs. Our favorites have been the Cremma Lemma, which is like a milky creamy version of limoncello, and Chocolate Raspberry, which tastes as the name suggests. I also picked up a bottle of their seasonal pumpkin flavor on our last stop there (yum!).
When I say they "make" this liqueur, I mean they "made"...kinda. After our most recent trip, Bloomery made the decision to close their tasting room. They now make canned versions of cocktails that use their liqueurs but you can no longer buy bottles of the stuff. So, this is it. This is all we have. We've been treating it like liquid gold.
There is a cocktail you can make with the Cremma Lemma that uses the liqueur, orange juice, soda water, and vanilla and it tastes like this amazing orange, lemon creamsicle concoction. So delicious and perfect for the months when the weather is warm. When Nate brought up the Sweetshine it made me think...putting this flavor into a cupcake could be quite delicious. My goal was to get the flavor of the Cremma Lemma cocktail without actually using some of the Sweetshine since we want to save that to enjoy for a special occasion. And these cupcakes do it quite well. The orange and lemon flavors aren't too overpowering and the creaminess of the icing pairs perfectly. Plus, they have a special orange surprise inside. I love making cupcakes with filling.
These cupcakes were a hit at our Memorial Day cookout. They're a great treat for the spring or summer months.
Bloomery is a distillery in West Virginia. I mentioned it once before on this blog (see Creamsicle Overnight Oats). We love the place and have stopped there every time we've been in West Virginia, most recently for our birthdays last year. Bloomery makes these amazing liqueurs. Our favorites have been the Cremma Lemma, which is like a milky creamy version of limoncello, and Chocolate Raspberry, which tastes as the name suggests. I also picked up a bottle of their seasonal pumpkin flavor on our last stop there (yum!).
There is a cocktail you can make with the Cremma Lemma that uses the liqueur, orange juice, soda water, and vanilla and it tastes like this amazing orange, lemon creamsicle concoction. So delicious and perfect for the months when the weather is warm. When Nate brought up the Sweetshine it made me think...putting this flavor into a cupcake could be quite delicious. My goal was to get the flavor of the Cremma Lemma cocktail without actually using some of the Sweetshine since we want to save that to enjoy for a special occasion. And these cupcakes do it quite well. The orange and lemon flavors aren't too overpowering and the creaminess of the icing pairs perfectly. Plus, they have a special orange surprise inside. I love making cupcakes with filling.
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~ Ingredients ~
(Makes 12)
Cupcakes
1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs
½ c. vegetable oil
½ c. buttermilk
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs
½ c. vegetable oil
½ c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. lemon extract
½ tsp. orange extract
½ tsp. lemon extract
½ tsp. orange extract
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
Orange marmalade
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
Orange marmalade
Cream Cheese Icing
8 oz. cream cheese brought to room temperature
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
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~ Directions ~
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate larger bowl, beat together sugar and egg. Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, orange extract, and lemon extract and beat well. Slowly add dry ingredients and beat until combined. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners. Divide batter evenly among the cupcake liners.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Once cupcakes are cool, use an apple corer to remove the center of each cupcake. Scoop a bit of the orange marmalade into the center of each.
While the cupcakes are baking, make the icing. In one bowl whip together the cream cheese and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl whip the heavy whipping cream and sugar until soft peaks form (about 3 minutes). Add the cream cheese mixture to the whipped cream mixture and whip together until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use. Pipe over cupcakes once they are completely cooled. Add some dried orange slices to the top of each cupcake for extra fun, if you'd like (I love the sweetened dried orange slices from Trader Joe's).
Enjoy!
In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate larger bowl, beat together sugar and egg. Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, orange extract, and lemon extract and beat well. Slowly add dry ingredients and beat until combined. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners. Divide batter evenly among the cupcake liners.
