i make a lot of cupcakes, but i only make one frosting

6 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups of milk
2 cups of butter (1 pound/ 4 sticks)
2 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

cook the flour and milk together in a sauce pan until it bubbles and thickens. pour it on to a plate and cover it with plastic wrap.

(put the plastic right up against it so it doesn't form a skin. SERIOUSLY!!! cover it. the skin does not simply dissolve away. it makes your icing funky.)

then put it in the fridge while you make the rest of your frosting.


cream the butter and sugar. add the vanilla

when the flour and milk is cool, add it to the butter and whip until the frosting turns light, fluffy and white.

put it in the fridge for 15 minutes. then use all you want.

lemon curd tarts

if i said these were my favorite things to bake, it would be an understatement. they frequently inspire me to burst out in song.

the crust is pate sablee.
8 ounces butter
4 ounces sugar
1 egg
12 ounces cake flour

the dough is creaming method, so "cream" the butter until it's soft, then add the sugar. for accomplishing this, you have two options; one is a stand mixer, the other is getting sweaty.

add the egg after the sugar and butter have been completely combined. wait, and then begin to add the flour. the last bit of flour is always stubborn and is always easier to work in with your hands.

bake your pie or tart shells (without the filling! or ohmygoosh, you'd have such a mess!) at 350 F. bigger crusts will take longer but they will be golden when they are done


(use baking weights, or baking beans to hold the crust down. if you don't you'll get big bubbles)

my mother, who hates making pie crusts, was driven to profanity when she saw how quickly i made these.

her forgiveness and her first bite were simultaneous.

the filling is lemon curd
6 tbsp fresh melon juice
2 tbsp butter
the zest of one lemon (which i leave out cause i don't like chunks)
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
a pinch of salt
1 egg and one additional egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

in a sauce pan, combine the lemon juice, butter and maybe some zest if you feel like it. (i never feel like it because i dislike chunks) keep everything over a low flame until the butter is melted.m

combine the dry ingredients separately (salt, sugar, cornstarch)
add the eggs to the dry ingredients, mix well, then add the hot lemon juice
return the whole batch to the heat and cook until it's thick and bubbly
(5-8 minutes)
you want the eggs to cook, but if you don't stir constantly they'll scorch
when it's all done, stir in the vanilla, cool and fill your pie shells... or perhaps just a spoon.

mine are dusted with powdered sugar, just 'cause.