Melomakarona-Inspired Honey Orange Walnut Cupcakes

Cakes not being my favorite, I rarely make them unless the kids ask for it as a treat on birthdays and other special holidays. So far, they've preferred the simple hearty flax-bran-loaded muffins or fruit tartlets or mini pies that I offer as desserts anytime they feel like having a sweet treat.

When I do make a few different kinds of sweets on and off, of course, fruit pies turn out to be one of the top favorites, especially during the berry season when we pick berries from local farms, and later in fall when apples and peaches and cherries rain from the sky.

Cupcakes being my daughter's favorite pastime, along with cake pops -- dreaming up the varieties and drooling over pictures of them in books and web -- I end up making a few with her, based on her current choice.

Speaking of cake pops, and birthdays, she made these Shaun and Shirley cake pops along with some oddly crazy chicks for her brother's birthday. As cloying as I find the candy melts for cake pops, it seems like an easy, quick, satisfying treat that kids can make and decorate on their own. Less work for me, and I don't have to eat it anyway. Microwave Mug Cakes are the easiest to make, which can then be used to make the cake pops.

Back to the Honey Orange Walnut cupcakes, this time, it was the Greek delicacy Melamakarona that inspired them. Honey and Citrus. Fresh and sweet for a springtime indulgence.

Drizzling some freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with honey onto the cupcakes before serving make them moist, almost juicy. The cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg add that warmth and sweetness that enhances the sense of indulgence.

Typically, I don't have self-rising flour handy, so, I mix a small batch every time a recipe calls for it: simply mix 1 cup flour, with 1½ tsp baking powder, plus ¼ tsp salt.

Ingredients
Dry:
3/4 cup self-rising flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/8th tsp ground cloves
1/8th tsp ground nutmeg
Wet:
5 Tbsp softened unsalted butter
2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
⅓ cup superfine sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp orange zest
Topping:
¼ cup minced/chopped walnut pieces
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Preparation

1. Sift the Dry ingredients into a small bowl
2. Beat the Wet ingredients until light and fluffy
3. Fold in the dry ingredients into the whipped wet ingredients and mix gently till well incorporated
4. Spoon into muffin cups
5. Bake in a 375°F oven for about 20 minutes
6. Remove from oven, allow to cool a bit, then prick the cupcakes with a toothpick so it can hold the drizzled toppings
7. Topping: Stir the honey, cinnamon, and orange juice till well blended, and drizzle spoonfuls on each cupcake; sprinkle minced walnuts and serve warm or chilled

Rainbow Cake

A 7-layered 6-inch round cake in colors of the rainbow, with white vanilla frosting. Regular white cake recipe found on the web, with food colors - the fun was in mixing the 4 colors (red, blue, green yellow) plus a smidgen of black to make gorgeous VIBGYOR.

Each 6-inch round layer was about an inch thick. I baked them in batches and assembled them the night before her birthday.

I did think of making a single layer cake with rainbow rings or something, but the night before the big day I went with what I know works - layering. No psychedelic 70s style cake this time.

Nothing very innovative about this recipe, but this is exactly what my little girl wanted for her birthday and I was happy to make it for her.

Marthastewart.com has a rainbow cake recipe which was the inspiration for this, but, rather than red on top, I stacked them with violet at the top as it seemed prettier than the other way. Totally subjective, of course...

After the Penguin cake for the little guy's birthday, this was so much easier: a large batch of cake batter (7 cups), 6-inch round cake tin (I had multiples so I could bake a few at a time), red, blue, yellow, green food colors, some simple vanilla buttercream frosting, rainbow sprinkles; the wait for the cake to cool so I can frost them was the toughest part.

Of course, I had enough trimmings when I flattened the tops of the cakes to layer them to make cake pops. And knowing that there were Penguin cake pops for her brother's birthday, she was naturally expecting some "surprise" cake pops, and she wasn't disappointed.

Penguin Cake Pops

Of the 500 odd posts here, only a handful are sweets/desserts which about reflects the frequency of dessert-making in my kitchen. We don't eat sweets much so I don't feel the need to bake wonderful confections.

However, when I saw this tutorial, I was inspired to make some for the kiddos. And, when their birthday falls on a weekend, I am all excited to try something new.

Weren't cake pops the rage a while back? I sort of laid low and let the trend pass by, never attempting to make or eat these handy treats.

I made just a few changes from the video tutorial - used dark chocolate melts with added black food color; used M&Ms for the beak and the feet, no bow-tie, nothing fancy; and ready-made Wilton™ candy eyes.

Crumbs from the Penguin Cake I made for the birthday boy came in handy for making these penguin cake pops.

I was a bit doubtful about how they would turn out, being my first time and all. But, I was pleasantly surprised - they had the right amount of silly and cute - and the kids devoured them with methodical relish: beak first, feet next, followed by eyes, then head, and finally simply tear into the body at will.

Personally, the hardened candy coating didn't do much for me - the lemon cake inside was good, although hard to taste with relish, but the candy melts that coated the outside isn't my favorite, so, I could take it or leave it - eating-wise, I mean. But, eye-candy-wise, I will certainly take it. Gladly.