Usually this time of the year our weekends are pretty quiet. The craziness of cramming every single little thing into the summer is gone and we can actually enjoy our weekends. That doesn’t seem to be the case this year. We still seem to be going here, there and everywhere. And this weekend was no exception. We had dinner plans Saturday night with Andy’s mom and step-dad and my parents were visiting on Sunday. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out to dinner and entertaining, it’s finding time to prepare for everything that’s the hard part. I was going to do some cleaning after I got home from work Friday night. Well, that didn’t happen. I got home later than usual since I stopped to get all the groceries I needed for Sunday. By the time I got home it was dark and I just didn’t feel like doing anything. It was a miracle I even put the groceries away. So I spent all Saturday cleaning the house. I also made dessert. We’ll get to that deliciousness later.
Saturday night we met Andy’s parents out at a local supperclub and had dinner which was wonderful. We got home and I basically crashed. I dragged myself to bed at about 10 and figured I would get up early Sunday morning to prep everything for lunch. Well, that wasn’t the case. I woke up shortly after 8. I did a quick mental calculation of time needed for everything I wanted to do and I figured I would be cutting it close. My parents were going to be at our house around 11-11:30. Which means 11. My family is always early. I was just finishing putting the desserts together when they arrived. I had finished just about everything I wanted to get done. I felt pretty good.
Of course, Andy kept telling me I was going overboard and my mother actually said these words, “You could have fed us hotdogs and we would be happy.” Uh, yeah. NO. Not going to happen. I explained to her that she gave birth to three girls that are notorious for overkill on all sorts of levels. Take for instance my attire for dinner the night before. The restaurant we went to is a fairly casual place but I am of the school of thought that if you’re going out to eat, you shouldn’t look like you just rolled out of bed and are still trying to conquer the hangover you have from the previous nights events. I didn’t think I was overdressed. Jeans, a black tank top, windowpane plaid blazer and black heels (of course). Andy looked at my shoes, shook his head and asked if I had any “real” shoes. I told him these are real shoes, I wear them to work all the time. Then there was a question about how I manage to walk all day in them but I stopped listening. He’s a guy. They just don’t get shoes. So we walk into the restaurant and of course a majority of the patrons are clad in Badger apparel. Which is totally fine for them. For me, not so much.
The overkill spills into other facets as well and really gets out of control when we have people over. Which is pretty much what happened Sunday. We did chicken and skirt steak fajitas with peppers, cilantro lime rice and all the fixings. I made white queso dip for chips and a pineapple punch. I did save myself some time and energy and bought my favorite salsa. I was going to make street corn dip but nixed that after finding out it would just be four of us. I’m crazy, not stupid. For dessert I made lemon angel food cupcakes with a whipped lemon mascarpone topping.
I had never made angel food before and don’t own the specific pan to make it. So when I came across a recipe from Cooking Classy I decided those were much easier and cuter than a full cake. I made them Saturday afternoon and they turned out perfectly. Cut to Sunday morning and Andy tells me that the cupcakes DIDN’T turn out. Apparently when I went to bed he watched t.v. for awhile and at 1:00 in the morning decided it was a good time to try a cupcake. Well, I had put them in a covered cake pan and I guess angel food should not be covered. The cake top was very sticky. The cake itself was VERY tasty. So I had to think fast. My solution? Trifle. I have an excess of cute little Ball jars so I decided everyone was getting their own trifle. Which actually works out really well. Individual trifles look like a lot of work but really you are just throwing things in whatever container you choose. I cut the cupcakes into pieces and layered those with the lemon topping. Piece of (cup)cake. And it looks adorable. I would have like to have something a little crunchy just for texture in there but like I said before, I’m not stupid, just crazy.
If you love angel food cake try these, they aren’t hard to make, they just take some patience.
Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes
adapted from Cooking Classy
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar (I use Baker’s Ultrafine Sugar)
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
6 egg whites, room temp
2 1/2 Tbsp warm water
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, sift together half of the sugar, the cake flour and the salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together egg whites, water, lemon extract and water until combined, about 2 minutes. Continue whisking mixture on medium speed while slowly adding the remaining sugar, until medium peaks form. Sift enough of the flour mixture in to evenly dust the top of the egg whites. With a spatula gently fold flour mixture into the egg whites. Continue this process until all of the flour mixture has been incorporated. (about 12 batches)
Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling each liner until nearly full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely before topping.
Lemon Mascarpone Whip
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
6 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/4 – 1/2 cup lemon curd
1/2 cup powdered sugar
In the bowl of a stand mixer whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar to the cream and whip until incorporated. In a separate bowl combine the mascarpone cheese and lemon curd. Add lemon and cheese mixture to whipped cream in batches and gently fold mixture until well combined. Store in refrigerator and top cupcakes just before serving.
Notes:
This recipe will make about 16 cupcakes using standard liners. I used cupcake liners that are taller than standard liners. They were 2 x 1 3/4 inches. I got 11 cupcakes out of this recipe.
As you know, I made a trifle instead of topping the cupcakes. If you want to do that, unwrap your cupcakes and cut up your cupcake using a serrated knife. Do this gently or you risk smooshing the cake. Then, depending on the size of your container take a few pieces of cupcake and place at the bottom as your first layer. Then top with the lemon mascarpone whip. Continue these layers until you fill the container.
If you feel so inclined, you could brush each cake layer with a little Limoncello if you have it. Or crush up some cookies to add crunch. Lemon shortbread or the like. That is what is so great about a trifle. Anything goes. Just don’t put savory and sweet together like Rachel did in the Thanksgiving episode of Friends.
Enjoy!
Ann