I like Cupcake

These cupcakes make an impressive presentation. For sure. But they are also somewhat impractical.
I was helping a friend who was baking for a competition and I really, really wanted her to win. So we made 12 of these gorgeous lemons and a bunch of regular cupcakes for pure eating. I wasn’t sure how they would turn out, so the regular cupcakes were also back up. Thankfully the lemons worked out and looked and tasted great, but strangely she only came in second place! Beat out by homemade ice cream sandwiches. I guess we should have considered that the judges were 9.
The cake was very moist, the custard brought a super-lemony coolness, and the meringue balanced it all out. Tasty cupcakes all the way around. Good luck if you try these out.
Oh, obviously one would need to eat the lemons with a spoon.


Prepare Lemons

12 Meyer Lemons
Melon Baller

1. Wash and dry each lemon.
2. Take a small slice off of one end of each lemon. Just enough for it to stand up on its own, but not so much that you make a whole in the bottom.
3. Slice of the top of each lemon such that you can get in to the pulp with your melon baller.
4. Remove the inside from the lemon with the melon baller. Try to get the inside as clean as you can without making any wholes in the cup. Make sure the insides end up in a clean bowl – you will need them for the next step.
5. Strain the lemon juice from the insides for the remaining recipes.
6. Wrap each lemon in foil to protect it while baking.

Lemon Vanilla Custard

1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
pinch salt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons meyer lemon juice
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

1. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Stir in water until blended. Add lemon juice and stir until blended.
3. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly but slowly with a wooden spoon. Boil for 2 minutes.
4. Whisk up egg yolks in a small bowl. Add two tablespoons of the hot lemon mixture to the eggs slowly and whisking constantly. Whisk the egg yolks back into the hot lemon mixture slowly and whisking constantly.
5. Bring back to a boil over medium heat and cook until thickened.
6. Transfer into a glass bowl, add zest, and butter and stir until combined.
7. Let cool for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.



baked cupcake with a hole poked in it   Lemon Cupcakes

12 lemons plus ~14 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each.
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
5. Add about a third of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.
6. Add milk and beat until combined.
7. Add about a third of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.
8. Add lemon juice and zest and beat until combined.
9. Fill cored lemons and cupcake papers about half to three-quarters full.
10. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.


pouring in the custard Meringue Frosting

5 egg whites
1-1/4 cup sugar

1. Combine egg whites and sugar into the mixing bowl of your stand mixer and set over a bain marie (water bath).
2. Whisk by hand for a few minutes until the sugar is dissolved or preferably until the mixture reaches 110 degrees Fahrenheit. (Apparently 160 is safest. I have never tried that so can’t tell you if it will still be ok for the frosting. So if you are concerned use pasteurized eggs.)
3. Transfer bowl to electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 10 minutes.
4. Beat on high speed until stiff glossy peaks form, about 5 to 10 minutes more.
Assemble
1. Allow each lemon cupcake to cool.
2. Poke each with your finger to make a well for the custard.
3. Fill with custurd.
4. Using a small ice cream scoop, top each filled lemon with meringue.
5. Toast frosting with a blow torch.
6. [Optional] Dust with lemon zest.

                                

Rasulullah s.a.w my idol

Our Idol, Our Role Model…
 

Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes for (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.

Rasulullah or Prophet Muhammad s.a.w is the most influential person in ISLAM, even ranked the most influential people in history.

It is no doubt that as a muslim, Rasululllah is our true role model, for him being the highest ranked person by Allah. It is important that we have the feeling of love towards the Prophet, and to love him, one needs to know him first  

It is the time of the year again, the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. History has told us that Rasulullah s.a.w was born an orphan in Makkah and subsequently raised by his extended family. He worked as a shepherd and a merchant, was never been formally educated and known to have been ummi, or unlettered man. He was well known to his fellow countrymen for his absolute honesty, impeccable character and strong sense of justice and fairplay – so much so that they fondly called him Al-amin, meaning the trustworthy.

At the age of forty, on one night in the month of Ramadhan,he was visited by Jibrail who conveyed to him the first of a series of wahy (Divine revelations), which he continued to receive until his death in 632. It was confirmed that the he, Muhammad was the Allah’s last and final prophet to humanity and the Qur’an, consisting of one hundred and fourteen surah of variable lengths, was Allah’s last and final revelation to mankind.

The Prophetic mission of Rasulullah s.a.w began in Makkah with hardships and hostile responses from the ruling Makkan elites. Undaunted by all the trials, Prophet Muhammad s.a.w continued to proclaim the message of Islam in and around Makkah for more than a decade. In 622, the Prophet’s migration to Yathrib (later known as Madinah) became a momentous event of in Islamic history for it was the start of the Hijri calendar. From that day on, Madinah became a very special place for all Muslims; and it also became the hub for Islamic learning, civilisation, and culture for all times to come.

The sequence of the Prophet Muhammad’s journey, hardships, and accomplishments is always available for us to read, due to the holy reservation of the Quran and the hadiths which have recorded the history very accurately. Numerous virtues, guidance and guidelines for Muslims are well laid down by the history of the Prophet, with him PBUH having the best akhlaq as reported in one hadith Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said: “I have been sent to complete the nobility of character.”

With the time gap between us now and the Prophet MUhammad, the best we can do as his ummah is to read the sirah, learn from it and take actions based on what the Prophet has done. One of many of the important words of him is the last sermon delivered during the farewell pilgrimage on the ninth of Dhul Hijjah (12th and last month of the Islamic year), 10 years after Hijrah (migration from Makkah to Madinah) in the Uranah Valley of mount Arafat. After praising, and thanking Allah he said:

“O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and TAKE THESE WORDS TO THOSE WHO COULD NOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY.

O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. ALLAH has forbidden you to take usury (interest), therefore all interest obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer any inequity. Allah has Judged that there shall be no interest and that all the interest due to Abbas ibn ‘Abd’al Muttalib (Prophet’s uncle) shall henceforth be waived…

Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things. O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under Allah’s trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. And it is your right that they do not make friends with any one of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste.

O People, listen to me in earnest, worship ALLAH, say your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your wealth in Zakat. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.

Remember, one day you will appear before ALLAH and answer your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone. O People, NO PROPHET OR APOSTLE WILL COME AFTER ME AND NO NEW FAITH WILL BE BORN. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the QURAN and my example, the SUNNAH and if you follow these you will never go astray. All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O ALLAH, that I have conveyed your message to your people”.

(Reference: See Al-Bukhari, Hadith 1623, 1626, 6361) Sahih of Imam Muslim also refers to this sermon in Hadith number 98. Imam al-Tirmidhi has mentioned this sermon in Hadith nos. 1628, 2046, 2085. Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal has given us the longest and perhaps the most complete version of this sermon in his Masnud, Hadith no. 19774.)

May we become the ones of the Prophet’s ummah who spread Allah’s and his word to the humankind.

May Allah help us to be stong to always acting by the Prophet’s akhlaq.

May we always be the ones who say salam and salawat upon the Prophet.

“Undoubtedly Allah and His Angels send blessings on the Prophet. O’ you who believe! Send upon Him Blessings and salute Him with all respect.” (Al-Qur’an- 33:56)

Richard Marx

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Good morning everyone. have a nice days