In an act of absolute insanity, I gave away almost of all of my finished mojito bars to my neighbor. I had played with recipe development and photography for so long that I was ready to move on. (Does anyone else get that way after baking for a long time?)

By the next morning, I was no longer tired of looking at the mojito bars. In fact, I craved one. At first bite, I realized my mistake. My mojito bars were crazy good, like lime bars for grown ups – I wanted every single one of them back!

This mojito curd is my fourth foray into curds this year. Before this curd, I whipped up carrot curd, roasted banana curd, and orange curd.

Each time that I make a curd, I discover a new use for it. I’ve done the obvious (eating by the spoonful and spreading on toast), I’ve used it as filling for molten lava cakes, and I’ve used it to sweeten parfaits.

Cucumbers are clean, crisp, and refreshing. Why do we often sour them, turning them into pickles? Although candied cucumbers resemble bread and butter pickles, I assure you that they taste nothing alike.

Candied cucumbers taste like candy! They are sticky, sweet, and – since I added some fresh mint when I candied them – minty fresh! These candied cucumbers made a gorgeous topper for my cucumber martini cupcakes (coming soon). But, they would also steal the show on an after-dinner cheese plate or perched on the side of a glass of an actual cucumber martini.

Cooking With PAMA

I made these pomegranate mojito cupcakes as an entry into the Cooking with PAMA Contest. If I win When I win, I get to go to the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen! I wanted to wait until I had a cupcake that I really thought could win before entering – this pomegranate mojito cupcake is it!

Update: I didn’t win.  But, it was sure fun trying!