I love weekends! Especially productive weekends when I have something to show for my efforts at the end of it. I was born with this creative bent and that means I have to be constantly creating and to have an end product to gaze in wonder at. Not that everything I create is worthy of wonder but I give it a good shot.
The strange thing is that my creativity is usually poured into my non-work hours. I have never had a particularly creative job while working for someone else though there have often been small elements of each one where I could express a little creativity. But when you work for someone else, you have to follow the company lines and that feels like wearing shackles. Hence, I am creative in my spare time and this blog is a great fit. I have such fun cooking, then styling and photographing the food.
But having said all that, I think one of my careers had its own creativity even though there was no end product I could touch. I taught English as a second language for about twelve years both here and in Italy. There is a good deal of satisfaction in imparting knowledge to others and knowing they leave your class in a better state than when they arrived. Many need the IELTS exam in order to be able to study or do business in their country of choice and when they passed, my job was done. That felt good. Surely that is a creative process.
I have spent my life falling into teaching jobs, all the while saying that it was not my chosen career. At sixteen, I created a small ballet school. At 18, I taught English in Fiji on Volunteer Service Abroad. At 23, I left for Italy and taught English there for years. While there, I studied fashion design in my spare time and when I returned to New Zealand, I taught it at the Whitecliffe Art School while opening a boutique in the centre of the city. I ran my own business in the fashion industry for a decade and when I had turned it into a business with others taking care of the creative activities, I sold it. I then homeschooled my son for most of his schooling years and eventually returned to ESOL teaching.
Teaching might not have been my chosen career but I think it chose me.
I found the recipe for these cupcakes at After Taste. I had all the ingredients except the sour cream and I even had a jar of lemon curd I needed to use. The idea of the spoonful of lemon curd in the middle for a surprise filling appealed so this recipe was it for this week. And I had all that berry, white chocolate cream cheese frosting left over from the chocolate beetroot cake so that went on top. I added a lot more icing sugar but it still wilted once on the cakes, but we loved the delightful combination of flavours regardless.
This is not a low Fodmap recipe.
- 250 grams butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 eggs
- 2 tsp lemon rind
- 250 grams sour cream
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup lemon curd
- Turn on the oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add eggs, lemon rind and sour cream and mix until well combined.
- Fold in the flour and the baking powder until just combined.
- Fill the cupcake holders ½ full of the cake mixture.
- Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes.
- Cool the cupcakes.
- With a teaspoon, scoop out a small amount of the cupcake.
- Ice with your favourite icing.
Good Sunday afternoon, teach’ 🙂 ! Methinks you can mark yourself 98% [100% perhaps too perfect sounding?] for the styling of these elegantly appetizing cupcakes! Am smiling, ’cause I seem to have managed awfully wide perimeters in what I have done in life also! Teaching can be so satisfying: no wonder you seem to miss it 😀 ! My fields on a rather on-and-off basis over the past decades have been in natural therapies: nutrition, exercise and natural medicines – wonderful if someone later comes up and says: ‘This actually is working’!!
Wow, 98%! Thanks so much. Was that top of the class? I’m not sure if I miss the teaching or not. I guess I am trying to figure that out.
I think that is the beauty of teaching or what you have done with natural therapies etc. – the joy of helping someone in a meaningful way.
Suzanne
Definitely top of the class, ma’am 🙂 !
You know, it’s pretty interesting how much our lives parallel. I, however, wish I had a stint in Italy!! Did not have that experience (little bit in France). Did I share with you that I had my own ballet school too!?? I trained all throughout my teen years, danced with a U.S. company touring France, then got a job offer with Boston Ballet. My mother was against it all…hated my chosen career path. I got a business degree and went into corporate marketing. Didn’t you mention you did that too? Then…on to substitute teaching in school…homeschooling…and ??? can’t wait to see what is next. Everyone assumes I want to go into teaching! But, I say I do not. I do, though, get a thrill from seeing someone progress after having taught him. BTW…moving on to your cupcakes…these are the colors of the infamous American Girl’s doll collection. If you go to the flagship stores, they have restaurants all decked out in pink and black/white polka dots/strips. It is adorable and your cupcakes would fit right in with what they bring as sweets to the table.
I think I do remember that you had a ballet school. You went further with ballet than me though. I got the teacher’s exam but then changed to Spanish dancing before going to live in Fiji.
Ah, parents who do not allow their children to follow their dreams! Such a shame. But the next generation will rectify that – won’t we?
Teaching is hard work but it has its rewards.
I had no idea about my colour choices already being used by a company. I must check them out.
Suzanne
I actually taught English as a 2nd language for a bit – fun job, although it made me appreciate how difficult it sometimes can be to teach something which one learns naturally. Anyway, lemon is one of my fav flavors, and these look terrific. Great presentation, food styling.
There are so many of us teachers around – a necessary breed. There is a special knack to teaching English as a second language and you learn it with experience. It helps if you have learned one yourself so you have empathy with your students.
I use lemon in everything – a bit like Jamie Oliver.
Suzanne
You certainly have crammed in a lot of jobs and careers into your life so far. It does seem that teaching has given you a lot of traveling opportunities and much more besides. I love your cupcakes. They look gorgeous in those black and white wrappers xx
Hopefully more jobs to come too.LOL. Teaching ESOL is a great profession if you want to travel.
Suzanne
How exciting! All the adventures you must have had during your travels! 😀
These lemon curd cupcakes are equally exciting. Their striped wrappers make me think of warmer days (currently it’s drizzle and ice). Beautiful photos!
Thanks, Valerie. Some adventures were exciting and others not so much but it’s all part of travelling and living in other countries.
Suzanne
i found you through Thyme blog. I was so comforted by your homeschooling story. How beautiful! My son will be turning 18, my daughter 17, I have always homeschooled them. I loved reading about your son. And then to find you here… such a beautiful artist.
xo
Thanks so much, Christina. I love Sarah’s blog. There are some children who are crying out to be homeschooled and others who slide right into the system and never look back. We have to listen to our children and their needs and do what feels right. You must be so proud of having homeschooled two children right through. I bet they go on to do great things with their lives – and basically that means be happy.
One more year of tertiary edication and my son will be done. Then it’s up to him. It will be interesting to watch.
I will pop over and check out your blog now.
Suzanne
These cupcakes sounds great ,I like the flavour combination. I’ve featured this recipes on my blog! I hope you don’t mind! If you don’t agree with that please contact me and I will remove it. All the best.
That’s fine. Thank you for letting me know.
Suzanne