Camp Cupcake: Strawberry-Jam Teacakes

I can't say I was thrilled to be making this recipe. Of the recipes in the book, it didn't sound very exciting.

However, it turned out to be pretty good, which is a good thing, since I have eaten a lot of them.

I made these on Wednesday night when I got home from work. I woke up on Thursday morning to glaze them before I headed into work, and, magically, Lubbock had turned into a winter wonderland overnight. Here's what happens when it snows in Lubbock:

-Everything is cancelled. Campus closes down. The Health Sciences Center where I work closes down. I think the stores stay open, but I can't really be sure because...

-I stay off the roads as much as possible. I am not a great driver, but that is only part of the reason I try not to drive. The other reason is that, because it doesn't snow here very often, Lubbock doesn't know how to handle it. There is no system for salting and plowing the roads here. Moreover, Lubbock drivers do not know how to drive when it is snowing and icy, so they fall into two camps: crawling along at 2 miles an hour, or trying to take the roads and normal speed and spinning out.

This is not a picture of the storm we just had. It was much worse. However, in my hermit-like state, I forgot to get a picture of it, so I had to settle for this one, which occurred about two years ago and was still enough to make them cancel classes.

So after I made 18 strawberry-jam teacakes with orange glaze, I didn't leave the house for two days. Classes were cancelled. Clients were cancelled. Meetings were cancelled. I ate a couple, but I ran out of milk and didn't want to drive to the store to buy more. I ended up taking them to the temple with me. It turns out that the Lubbock Temple is one of the few places I go all month that does not close, just because the weather is bad. Although, they thought about it.

This was the first time I have ever shared my cupcakes with the people at the temple. Given that I am the youngest person on both of my shifts by at least 20 years, some of the people I work with are beset by health problems, like diabetes, and bringing cupcakes to those people seems kind of cruel. However, I was worried about how much longer they would stay good, and concerned about the problem I have had in the past of baking one recipe before getting rid of all the cupcakes from the previous recipe, so I put them in the break room and didn't say anything to anyone. However, one of the counselors in the temple presidency saw me bring them in, and told me as I was leaving that he ate two of them. The next day, two of the matrons were also raving about them and trying to figure out what was in the recipe.

Wonder no more. Here it is:

Strawberry Jam Teacakes (makes 16)

1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins

3 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for tins

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 tsp. finely grated orange zest (I still have not bought a microplane zester, which, thanks to my sister, makes me feel shame).

4 large eggs, separated, room temperature

1/2 c. milk

1 c. strawberry jam or preserves. When I was describing this recipe to my mom, she said, "Oh, you should have used freezer jam." I pointed out that I don't have any, and I just went with the cheapest store-bought jam I could find. I would also like to point out that some members of my family made homemade jam over the summer without me. This is what I would like to blame for my lack of homemade jam.

Preheat oven to 350. Brush standard muffin tins with butter, dust with flour. Or, if you are lazy like me, spray them with Baker's Joy.

Whisk together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, cream butter, sugar, and zest on high speed until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until just combined after each.

In another bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks;

gently fold into batter. Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each prepared cup. Make an indentation in the middle of each; fill with 1 tablespoon jam. Top with an additional 2 tablespoons batter, covering jam completely.

I use this genius device, which is a small cookie scoop to measure out approximately one tablespoon of batter. It is also the perfect size to measure out batter for mini-cupcakes.

Bake about 30 minutes, rotating tins halfway, if you feel you must. Run an offset spatula around the edges to loosen them, but allow the cupcakes to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the pan. Martha does not say to do this, but I found that if I tried to take them out immediately, molten jam leaked out the bottom of the too-warm cake.

Glaze these with citrus glaze (use orange juice and orange zest). Serve them with tea, if you're into that sort of thing, or milk, if you happen to have remembered to buy some before the blizzard sets in.

I apologize for my bad food photography, once again. Don't let their seeming ugliness deter you from making them the next time you feel like sitting down to tea in your white gloves and floppy hat.