Ispahan Cupcakes and the Erie Canal

Summer is drawing to a close.  I know probably a lot of children have headed back to school already.  Mine start next week.  It is kind of a bittersweet time for me.  I am happy to see them grow and sad at the same time.  I am happy to have had a beautiful, happy summer but am also glad that I will have a wee bit of free time to clean, paint, create, what have you.  I try to hug my children even more than I did before because as time goes by, I realize how fast it truly is going. My oldest daughter is nearly eight.  Yesterday she was a baby.  I don't know how it exactly happened but she grew so fast. Taking a moment now and then is so important to do because they are fleeting.

I have learned to breathe better this summer.  To take a moment now and then through the day and just take a breath, deeply.  Savoring, relaxing, and feeling.  It has been truly eye opening.  So simple and so precious. 

Here is a trip we recently took down the Erie Canal.

Here is a song about the Erie Canal


A bit of summer fruit here. I just had to try Ispahan cupcakes.  The flavor combination of lychee, rose and raspberry piqued my interest.  Rose and lavender are not big attractions for me in flavor because of the "fragrant" taste they leave in your mouth.  Once in a while, however, I like to indulge in something with rose or lavender.  Like these marshmallows or these lemon lavender tarts.

Ispahan Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/4 cup ground almonds or almond meal
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
 2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temp
3/4 cup milk
1/4 rose water
1 teaspoon vanilla or rose essence

lychees (about 24), I used canned ones that I rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a cupcake tin with paper liners and spray with cooking spray.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about five minutes.  Add eggs one at a time and mix in until fully incorporated. Combine flour, ground almonds, salt and baking powder. In a large measuring cup combine milk, rose water and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients and milk mixture into butter and eggs alternately, ending with the flour.

Spoon in about a tablespoon of batter into each cupcake paper.  Drop a lychee on the batter  and fill up the muffin cups the rest of the way about 2/3 full.  Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Raspberry Cream Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp a little on the firm side
8 ounces or one package cream cheese, room temp
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup raspberry puree that has been deseeded


Beat cream cheese and butter together.  Add in sugar until fully incorporated,  Finally, fold in raspberry puree.