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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Cupcakes for St. Mark's Feast Day

It is very exciting to be part of this blog - which is a fabulous resource for celebrating the liturgical year in our homes and kitchens. Thank you to Jessica for making this idea a reality and thank you for inviting me to contribute.
Jessica mentioned the lamb cupcakes for the Annunciation being part of an "in like a lion out like a lamb" set from Martha Stewart. So to keep the set together here is another chance to convert it to a liturgical year theme. How about some lion cupcakes to celebrate the Feast of St. Mark - evangelist, apostle, martyr (April 25).

St. Mark is often pictured with a lion, particularly a winged lion. Tradition has long connected the authors of the Gospels with the four creatures in Ezekiel and Revelation. St. Mark is represented by the winged lion because Mark's gospel begins with the description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying out in the desert" and because he presents the Lord as the unconquered King. So to incorporate this symbol into a feast day celebration you could try some lion cupcakes. You could use the lion paired with the lamb from Martha Stewart , but we opted for these caramel corn lions since we are not big coconut fans. The cupcake lions could also be used for the Feast of St. Jerome (Sept. 30) or if reading Daniel and the lion's den.

Make cupcakes in the flavor of your choice. We used butter cream frosting with a slight tint of brown food coloring for a golden colored frosting. Molasses could also be used to achieve the coloring. Frost cupcakes and pipe on eyes and mouth with a darker brown or chocolate frosting. Circle each cupcake with caramel corn to make the mane.









You can purchase pre-made caramel corn or use this easy (and delicious) recipe to make your own. I was thinking the recipe could be used again for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (okay, it's a stretch, I admit).

Caramel Corn Recipe
2 1/2 qts. popped corn
1/4 c. corn syrup
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla

Cook syrup, brown sugar, butter, and salt in microwave, on high for 2 minutes, stir once. Add baking soda and vanilla. Stir well. Place popcorn in a large brown bag; pour syrup mixture over popcorn, stir a with wooden spoon. Roll up top of bag and put in microwave. Cook on high for 1 minute. Shake and repeat (but shake after first 30 seconds).

15 comments:

  1. These look great! sooo cute, what a great idea ;)

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  2. Sooo cute! I like the symbolism.

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  3. These little guys are adorable. We will definitely be making them on Fri!

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  4. Love your site! I can't wait to see more.

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  5. Those cupcakes are a really cute treat! Thanks for sharing this recipe.

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  6. How lovely! The children will truly enjoy these. What a lovely way to mark the feast!

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  7. These are just sooo cute, Mary! Since I've just worked out a cupcakes solution for my allergic son, we definitely could try this!

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  8. Hi again! Just thought I'd share a little substitution: we didn't have any popcorn, but a had bag of butterscotch chips on hand. They made a really great "mane". Certainly not the most "healthful" substitution, but it worked! You can check out the picture on my blog. God bless you again for the great suggestions!

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  9. Thanks for sharing the substitution, Kimberly. It does sound yummy. Way to be creative and resourceful.

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  10. I made these this morning, and they turned out so cute!!

    I was very happy with how quick and easy they were to make. The Carmel Corn recipe was SO simple!

    Thank you so much for sharing!! Happy Feast of St. Mark!

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  11. We used "pre-caramelled" corn but used butterscotch frosting on top of sweet potato muffins (I had to try to sneak in something healthy!). Thank you so much for the idea. The kids truly loved them!

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  12. These are truly adorable!! Mary is awesome!

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  13. Although these are for the feast of St Mark's I am using them for a church group celebrating Ascencion on Thursday night - cant wait to make them with the children. Thank you.

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  14. Thanks for sharing...these are "roaring" with cuteness:)

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