Flag Cupcakes

This one's more about nostalgia than about the recipe.

Up until 4 years ago I spent every 4th of July at my Grandparent's home and acreage in Reedsport, Oregon. Each year all of my Muffett aunts, uncles, and cousins would gather here for a phenomenal holiday bash. Great food would be served, games would be played, stories would be exchanged, and fireworks (the good ones) would be lit. It was so much fun. It was one of those events that I always enjoyed and treasured, but never really understood how difficult it would be to recreate until everyone started growing up and moving away.

The food was always a potluck of the most wonderful picnic foods brought and shared by everyone. It would all be set out on my grandmother's dining table, and I remember the wonderment I had as a kid that I was allowed to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I felt like it. Being able to just grab a handful of BBQ potato chips when I wanted to was a very special thing. There was roasted chicken, sandwich meats and cheeses, Grandma's unbeatable potato salad, baked beans, chips, veggies, fruit and so much more. Outside would be a big cooler full of ice and most any softdrink or juice you could want - chilled to icy perfection. We would eat watermelon on Grandma's big porch and roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a big campfire that was built each year on her gravel driveway. The sticks we used to roast with were gathered and whittled by "the boy cousins." From the moment we arrived there would be 4-8 ice cream machines churning out multiple gallons of the best homemade ice cream ever (in the earlier years we had to hand crank it). It was a simple recipe that my Grandpa Muffett used to enjoy as a child made from fresh milk and cream. We would top this delight with my Grandma's homemade hot fudge sauce. Ohhh, my mouth is watering as I type.

And each year my mom would make a wonderful half sheet white cake chilled and topped with whipped cream. She would artfully arrange blueberries and raspberries on top to make it look like a US flag. Simply beautiful and absolutely delicious. I can still taste the fresh sweetness of that chilled flag cake.

This year as we enjoyed a quiet 4th of July to ourselves, I pondered the good ole days and missed them a lot. I made these flag cupcakes in honor of my mom's flag cake, and I plan on using the month of July to prepare and enjoy many of the other foods that I remember so fondly. Next up Muffett Homemade Ice Cream with Grandma's Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce - I can hardly wait!

Flag Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix
1 container White Frosting
1 pint fresh blueberries
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Prepare cake mix as directed on box and bake into 20 cupcakes. Allow to cool then frost cupcakes with frosting. Arrange blueberries on 4 of the cupcakes, raspberries on 8 of the cupcakes, and dip the remaining 8 cupcakes in the coconut. Arrange on a platter or breadboard as pictured above to look like a US flag.

Lemon Berry Tart

So you made that wonderfully tart lemon curd.  And whipped it into a light and fluffy lemon mousse.  Let's take it a step further and make a lemon tart to pile sweet berries upon!  I used frozen blueberries for this one (my kids and I picked 25 pounds at The Berry Patch in Sadler, TX), but it is also de.light.ful. with fresh berries mounded on top - strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries. . . whatever berries you have on hand.

Lemon Berry Tart

First make your tart shell. . .

Tart shell
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp salt
9 Tbs very cold unsalted butter, chopped up into small dice
1 large egg 

Add the flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor and pulse a couple of times until they’re mixed together. Add in your COLD lumps of butter. Pulse for a few beats. The mix will look coarse and grainy and a few pea-sized butter bits should remain.

Add in your egg - pouring it around the whole surface. Pulse again, paying close attention to not let the food processor get away from you. Let it come almost to a ball of dough but not quite. Then  knead the rest by hand. Overprocessing the dough can make it tough.

Unload it to a work surface and give to a few turns and presses until it just comes together.  Form the dough into a disk shape. Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerate for a couple of hours to chill the dough thoroughly.

Roll out your chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. It should be about 3 inches larger in diameter that your tart pan. I like to roll my dough on a piece of parchment or wax paper to keep it from sticking to the counter. Sparingly sprinkle with flour as needed to keep it from sticking.

Once rolled, drape it over your rolling pin and transfer it to your tart pan. Peel away the parchment paper if you used it. Press it into your tart pan, making sure to get it to butt up against the corner edges of the pan. If you get tears in your dough, patch it with the scraps. The excess can hang over the edge. Cut away the excess.

Prick the tart all over with a fork and place the tart shell in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before baking (or longer, if you want to make it the day before). This will help the shell keep its shape when the heat of the oven hits it.

 

 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the shell from the freezer and tightly fit a sheet of tin foil inside the tart shell, taking care to tuck it into the contours. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake the shell approxiamately 25 minutes - or until golden brown. Let cool completely before filling.

 

 

Next let's make our blueberry topping - if you're using fresh fruit just skip this step!

Blueberry Topping

1 cup blueberries - fresh or thawed from frozen

1/4 cup sugar

1 T. cornstarch

1/4 cup water

1/4 t. lemon zest (optional)

Place the blueberries in a small saucepan. In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle over the blueberries, add water and stir. 

 

 

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and becomes clear. 

 

 

Stir in lemon zest if desired.

 

 

Now let's assemble that tart!

Remove your cooled tart shell from the pan and place it on a pretty plate or cake stand.  Spoon your lovely lemon mousse into the shell until it is 1/2 inch from the top.  Mound with beautiful fresh berries - or - drop spoonfulls of your blueberry topping onto the mouse.  Gently swirl by running a knife slowly through the berry topping.  Enjoy!