Mowielicious

Coconut And Cinnamon Celebration Muffins With Lime Cream Frosting

I feel like celebrating!

It's been a very exciting week for me. Not only have I had my 50,000th click on the blog, but you, my readers, are letting me know more and more with comments and emails that you're loving what I'm doing, and I just wanted to say that I'm so very grateful. Also, I've been getting some very exciting requests for taking photographs for various people and their projects, and it has really made me believe in myself just that little bit more. So again, thank you oh so very much! You make this blog what it is, and if it gets better every week as a lot of you have said, its because of you and your support. I'll be posting more about my upcoming projects soon, but until then, these celebration muffins are just for you!

I actually wasn't going to make muffins at all this week. I was thinking something more chocolatey maybe. But I'd been craving coconut cake for weeks now, I had a whole bunch of limes at home, and when I walked into La Cuisiniere and saw the cupcake stand above, I knew my chocolate fantasy had to take a back seat for a little while. Speaking of which, a huge THANK YOU has to go out to all the lovely ladies at La Cuisiniere - especially Anne, Penny, and Mandaline. Thank you so much for all your help, support, patience and time - it is all very much appreciated. 

Recipe after the jump!

 

Ricotta Strawberry Cheesecake

 

I absolutely love cheesecake! Who doesn't?

I remember this one from my childhood, my grandmother always made it in the sweltering height of summer. It's so light and so fresh, and so very different from every other cheesecake out there, but what a difference: for starters it's made with ricotta, not cream cheese. This is mixed with strawberries and the juice and zest of one lime to give it an amazingly interesting and fresh taste. The base is a light, delicate yet crunchy egg mixture with hazelnuts, and that combined with the cool cheese topping forms the most interesting flavours and textures in your mouth. If I could take a bite out of summer, this is the epitome of what it would taste like for me.

This recipe is also one of the main reasons I love baking: placing one, two, three or more different individual ingredients together to make something completely new and fabulous. It's like alchemy, almost magical. I absolutely love it.

 

The flower ladies around the corner from where I live also had some gorgeous peonies saved up for me - a big thank you to them! There's something so awfully elegant yet tragic about peonies, but in a very good way, wouldn't you agree?

 

I also had some leftover elderflower cordial from last week's [ Gooseberry Fools ] so I made some refreshing drinks with the rest of the limes I had and some freshly picked mint from the window box - perfect to serve to guests on a hot summer's day.

 

Recipes after the jump!