Tea Parties and Mint Citrus Shortbread

About a week ago I was texting my sister about her return home for the Memorial Day weekend...it went like this:

Me: I'm feeling in the mood for a tea party this weekend...you down for some radical pinky up shenanigans? I need to christen my trendy tea pot and I'll make cucumber sammies!

Laura: YES

Me: And scones? We also need a third sister if it's truly to be Downtown Abbey enough, but we will make due. 

Laura: Eh, we'll stick a bonnet on Ginger and call it good. 

Me: Yes. She can be the spinster one who can't get married, obviously.

And Ginger? That's our dog. She doesn't like bonnets so we just let her eat the cookies sans head gear. Anyway, sometimes we do weird things and and plan really British tea parties for Memorial Day weekend. It's a thing, this weirdness. But it's a good thing. It brings tea! Four different kinds of tea, cucumber sandwiches, cracker and cheese...it's a good good thing.

Tea parties can be awfully inspiring. I had a bajillion and one ideas running through my head as soon as I started planning for a tea party. Petit fours, mini pound cakes, cream puffs, homemade english muffins...the options were endless. But I wanted two things for this particular tea escapade:
1. Light and tasty, matches perfectly with a warm cup of tea...
2. Had a "spring time" flavor...
3. Preferably made with herbs from our garden...
and
4. I wanted it to be pretty. I mean, it was a tea party, it's not too much to ask that it be cute, right?

So I took a shortbread recipe, tinkered with it, (I never can leave any recipe alone. Even when I swear I'm going to leave it completely alone and execute it as is...I end up altering something. I think it's a disease or syndrome, it's that bad.) and then decorated them nearly to death.

Also, can we take a moment and appreciate the fact that I own not one, but two types of tea pot cookie cutters? I mean, that's only two less cutters than actual tea pots. (I kinda have a need to have as many tea pots/cups/items as physically possible.) Yes. Mhm.
Okay, moment is over, cookies are now taking over this blog.

Cookies...

Cookies...

And more cookies?

Yes. 

Cookies. 

This dough is uh-may-zing. It rolls like a dream, doesn't need to be chilled, and mixes up in one fell swoop. If you ever feel like a tea party that is low on the drama (No one dying or financial situations going awry like at the Downton Abbey's resident's tea parties) these are a must.







Mint Citrus Shortbread Cookies
3/4 pound (pounds, not cups!) butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 egg
2 Tablespoons of fresh chopped lemon verbena
2 Tablespoons of fresh chopped mint
zest and juice of one lime
Stick all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and stir until it combines into a beautiful dough. Turn it out onto a cold counter dusted lightly with (if your kitchen is warm, you may need to chill for 20 minutes. But this step is unnecessary most of the time.) Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with shaped cutters. Bake at 350 for 9 to 
13 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. Watch them carefully so they do not over bake. Frost and decorate with royal icing or leave them plain. (They are delicious either way, but without the icing you can really taste the fresh herbs and citrus...)

Crazy Side of the Fence: Iced Tea Lemonade Cupcakes

Memorial Day is coming.
And for me that means one thing. HOT DOGS! Wow, I love hot dogs.
Okay, so it means two things then. Hot dogs and cold drinks. (Actually, it doesn't really mean much. I have absolutely zero plans for Memorial Day because I'm a loner and like to stay on my own front porch and blog, but beside the point...)

Cold drinks. Memorial Day means Lemonade!
Or....Iced Tea.
Or BOTH. Because here at Purple Door Kitchen (and by Purple Door Kitchen I actually mean my very comfy bed) we embrace the wild and crazy ones who pour their glasses half full of lemonade AND iced tea. It's a partay with these kind of shenanigans of mixed drinks goin' on. Or it should be, at least.

I love lemon. I love tea. Seriously. If I had to pick one thing to drink for the rest of eternity I would pick lemon tea. I wouldn't even start complaining about it for at least 7 and a half years. Or at least 7 and a half months...but it would be a lovely 7 and a half months. Of course, if I love something I usually put it in cupcake form. It's a bad wonderful habit I think. Lo and behold: Lemonade Iced Tea Cupcakes.

And you're going: "Whuuutttt? Candice, you've honestly lost it fer shure." Perhaps I have. It's okay, it's nice here on the crazy side of the fence. you should join me. Jooooiiiiiiinnnn meeeeeee...Well. You don't have to. I admit, these are weird. Not everyone can enjoy those off the wall flavors, so I understand if you stay on the normal side of cupcake world. However, if you are one of those people who really enjoy iced tea and lemonade and you think it would taste AWEsome in cupcake form then yes. Hop on over.

Iced Tea Lemonade Cupcakes
1 cup milk
5 black teabags
juice and zest of one lemon
1 1/4 cup flour
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 packet of powdered Arnold Palmer iced tea mix (you know, the ones you pour into a water bottle? Yup.)
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Heat the milk in a saucepan til almost boiling. Remove from heat and steep the tea bags in it for ten minutes. Whisk in the lemon juice and set aside to curdle. Sift together flour, baking powder, corn starch, salt, lemon zest, powder drink mix and sugar in a large bowl. Mix in the tea-milk mixture, oil and vanilla. Stir until no lumps remain. Pour into cupcake wrappers and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until they spring back when lightly touched. 
Frost with
Lemon Buttercream
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups powdered sugar
zest and juice of one lemon
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tablespoons milk if needed
Blend butter and shortening together until combined. Mix in vanilla, juice, and zest. Beat til combined. Add four cups of powdered sugar. If too sift, add tablespoons of milk to thin.

Cupcake Craze: Earl Grey with Lemon Cream

I've been on a cupcake craze. I don't really even like to eat cupcakes, they are too sweet for my taste. But for some reason I love making them. They are fascinating! If I had my way I'd make cupckaes all day long. Fortunately, I have more than enough ideas to try in the kitchen. First Up: Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Cream.

When I made them the first time, the lemon overpowered the tea flavor I wanted. So I decided I would steep the milk in the recipe with some tea bags as well as adding the tea right into the batter. And I backed down quite a bit with the lemon juice in the cream frosting.
The general consenus from my four taste testers:
-Tastes like lemonade in a cupcake...don't change a thing! (But...but, it's a tea cupcake?)
-Oh. SO good. But the frosting is really lemony.
-I like the cake part, the frosting is a bit of a kick though.
-Um. I don't like the frosting. (Hey, so one of my taste testers in only eight. I value his honest opinion.)

Sadly I made these while my photographer (ahem, sister) was asleep. And they were long gone before pictures were taken. Photos up for the next recipe!