Round and Round the Mulberry Bush...

I have never seen Mulberries for sale anywhere in the United States (or anywhere else for that matter, but I haven’t been looking). Fortunately, I do see mulberries fairly frequently while I’m driving down the street in my home town, just outside of Chicago. Mulberries grow on trees (no, mulberries do not grown on bushes) that are fairly ubiquitous in the area, and which according to Wikipedia can be found throughout North America. If you’ve never had a mulberry, they taste sweet, and slightly like vanilla or pear. Unlike similar berries, when ripe mulberries are not at all tart. As mulberries grow, they start out green, turn white, then begin to darken and turn red, darkening to black when they ripen. When a mulberry is ripe it will pretty much fall off the tree when you pull it. If you can find some mulberry trees where you live, try to pick about four cups of ripe berries for this tart. Beware that mulberries are very staining. If you can’t find mulberries, or are wary of picking your own fruit, blackberries would work well in this recipe in their place.

To fill this tart I used Pierre Herme’s lemon cream, which I got through Tartlette. The lemon cream is delicious, very rich and lemony. Unfortunately, it also calls for two sticks of butter, which puts it pretty well into the not good for you range, but it is worth it. I used a pie crust for this tart rather than a specific tart crust because my mother had made a pie a few days ago, and there was another pie worth of dough left over. It was a good dough though, nice and tender, and not distracting from the flavorful filling.

Lemon – Mulberry Tart

Makes 14 inch tart

Crust

This recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated. It calls for vodka, which is odd, but works surprisingly well. This recipe may make more dough than you need for the tart.

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
12 Tbs cold butter, cut into ¼ inch slices
½ cup chilled, solid vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
¼ cup cold vodka
¼ cup cold water

1. Process 1 ½ cups of flour, the sugar, and the salt in a food processor until just combined.

2. Add the butter and shortening, and combine until the dough starts to collect in homogenous clumps.

3. Scrape the bowl with a spatula and redistribute. Add the remaining flour and pulse until combined. Empty the mixture into a bowl.

4. Sprinkle the water and vodka and water over the dough. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the liquid until the dough is slightly tacky and sticks together.

5. Press the dough into a disk. On a floured surface roll out the dough into a circle that is larger than your tart pan.

6. Grease a removable bottom tart pan, and place the crust in the pan, pressing the dough into the sides. Trim off excess. Use a fork to poke holes in the bottom of the tart.

7. Refrigerate the tart until the dough is firm again.

8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Press tinfoil into and over the tart crust. Fill the tart with weights. Bake for 15 minutes.

9. Remove the weights and the tinfoil from the tart. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10-12 minutes, or until the crust just begins to brown.

Lemon cream

1 cup of sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 eggs
2 sticks butter, softened and cut into pieces

1. Mash the zest into the sugar. Place the sugar, zest, eggs, and lemon juice in a metal bowl set over a double boiler. Whisk to mix.

2. Whisk the mixture constantly until the mixture thickens, and the whisk begins to leave tracks, or until the mixture reaches 180 degrees.

3. Pour the curd into a blender or food processor. Let the mixture cool to 140 degrees. Add the butter, and process the cream until smooth. Place in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.

Glaze

1 cup apricot jam
2 ½ Tbs raspberry liquor

1. Place the ingredients into a saucepan over low heat. Bring to a simmer.

2. Strain the mixture to remove the solids.

Assembly

1. Pour all of the lemon cream into the tart crust, and spread it evenly. Place the mulberries into the tart, stem side down, working in circles from the outside going in.

2. Use a pastry brush to dab the glaze onto the tart.

Animus Cupcake

It’s time for a cupcake battle; gateau a gateau. This began a few weeks ago when a friend of mine made a delicious lemon cake. It was so good that I decided to make a cupcake version. On her advisement, I decided to fill the cupcakes with raspberry whipped cream. However, in the interim, between deciding to make them and making them, I stumbled onto another recipe from Bon Appétit for lemon-raspberry cupcakes. Rather trying to choose which cupcake to make, I decided to make them both and have a cupcake battle to determine which was better. I’ve been hearing a lot about meyer-lemons lately, so I decided to use them to make both cakes.

Beth’s Cupcakes

I cut the recipe in half when I made these cupcakes, mostly because I didn’t want too many left over. I’ve posted the full recipe here. A half recipe made 11, so presumably the full recipe makes 22.

Lemon Cake
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large whole eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup whole milk

1. To make the lemon cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place liners in cupcake pans.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir together the dry ingredients with a whisk. Set aside.

3. In an electric stand mixer, using the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds, or until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, increase the speed to medium-high, and continue to beat until the mixture is light, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Add the whole eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in he lemon juice (the batter will appear curdled at this point smooth out after you add the dry ingredients). Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another 10 seconds. Scope the batter into the cupcake pans

This is what something curdled looks like

5. Bake the cakes for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean.

Lemon Frosting:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1. To make the lemon frosting, in the large bowl of the electric mixer, using the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar on low speed. Add the cream, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest. Increase the speed to medium-high, and beat for about 3 minutes, or until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Raspberry Whipped Cream
I didn’t really use a particular recipe for this, just estimated until it tasted right. However, I’ll do my best to approximate it here

1 ½ cups heavy cream, chilled
¼ cup sugar
Several tablespoons ground, fresh raspberries (or, use seedless raspberry jam)

1. In a standing mixer with the whisk attachment whip the heavy cream to stiff pe aks with the sugar

2. Grind the raspberries in a food processor, strain out the seeds

3. Beat the raspberry juice into the whipped cream

4. If your whipped cream curdles (mine did), put the mixture in the fridge or freezer to cool, then whip it back up in the mixer with a little more heavy cream. Assembly 1. Use a small, serrated knife to cut a circle into the tops of the cupcakes. Pull the cone of cake out and reserve

2. Fill the hole up with raspberry whipped cream

3. Cut the bottom off the cone, and place the top back into the cupcake

4. Frost the cupcake, top with a raspberry.

Bon Appétit for lemon-raspberry cupcakes

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, divided
4 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel, divided
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
12 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon seedless raspberry jam

Fresh raspberries (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

1. Using electric mixer, beat butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 3 teaspoons lemon peel in large bowl until blended, beat until fluffy and pale yellow.

2. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition.

3. Beat in half of flour. Add buttermilk and 2 tablespoons lemon juice; beat to blend. Beat in remaining flour. After you add the lemon juice, the batter may look curdled, but this will go away once the remaining flour is added.

4. Drop 1 rounded tablespoonful batter into each muffin liner. Spoon 1 teaspoon raspberry jam over. Cover with remaining batter, dividing equally.

5. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted halfway into centers comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan on rack.

For Frosting

whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon peel in small bowl. Spoon half of icing over 6 cupcakes. Whisk 1 tablespoon raspberry jam into remaining icing. Spoon over remaining cupcakes. Let stand until icing sets, about 30 minutes. Garnish with raspberries.