S'mores Cupcakes

I'm slightly addicted to watching Cupcake Wars. Every time I watch it I feel inspired to get in the kitchen and create my own cupcake concoctions. My mother rolls her eyes at me when I tell her I want to create my own desserts. She knows that I nearly always mess something up. But, hey, what's the fun in having everything go right? Am I right? 

I cant tell you how long I have been thinking about creating these cupcakes. I wanted to make them for the longest time but did not know how to execute them. Do I make a chocolate cake or a graham cake? Marshmallow frosting or a chocolate frosting? Do I put a chocolate filling in them or put toasted marshmallows in them? If you know me, you know I'm the most indecisive person ever...or at least I think you think I am...I'm not sure. So you know the delimia I was in when I couldn't decide on the perfect way to make a s'mores cupcake. Well, I finally decided on how I wanted to make them and I am definitely, 100% positive that I made the right decision.

Graham crackers kind of act as the base for a real s'mores, so I relayed this base into the cupcake by making the cake with graham crackers. If you've never made a graham cracker cake, prepare yourself. The smell of graham cracker cake cooking in the oven is intoxicating...maybe more so than cinnamon cooking in the oven (yet again, I can't decide.) The one problem I faced with using graham crackers in the cake batter though is that it resulted in a crumblier cupcake. It wasn't as moist as I anticipated. Don't let that keep you from making these. I wanted these to taste like a real s'mores, which required having toasted marshmallow and milk chocolate. There actually isn't that much chocolate in these cupcakes; just a drizzle over the cupcake. But it was perfect. I then filled it with some marshmallow fluff and topped it with some toasted marshmallows. I suggest eating these directly after toasting the marshmallows. Warm, gooey, and chocolatey s'mores...tastes like summer will be here soon.

Slightly adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 15 whole crackers finely ground in processor)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup milk
- 8 ounces bittersweet (I used milk) chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff

- Mini or regular sized marshmallows for topping (about 2 cups)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Whisk graham crumbs, flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in vanilla. Add graham-cracker mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with graham-cracker mixture. 

This batter looks a lot less than appealing...but don't let its appearance fool you. It tastes heavenly. I might have tried it.

4. Divide batter among muffin cups.

5. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center come out clean, about 22 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack; cool completely. 

6. Place chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream just to boil in small saucepan; pour over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; stir until smooth. Cool ganache until lukewarm.

  

7. Push apple corer about 1 inch into top of each cupcake; remove cake, forming hole. You can also use a spoon to scoop out the middle.

8. Spoon 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff into resealable plastic bag, pushing into 1 bottom corner. It's easiest if you put the bag in a cup then put in the filling. This will help keep the bag in place. Cut 1/2 inch off corner. 

9. Pipe into holes in cupcakes. Spread 2 teaspoons ganache over each cupcake.

10. Preheat broiler. Coat rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Place marshmallows on to sheet. Broil until slightly charred about 1 to 2 minutes. Top cupcakes with toasted marshmallows. I made little piles so I could place a pile on top of each cupcake.

How can you turn that down. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red velvet cake is my favorite-well, one of my favorites-cake ever, which I usually have on my birthday, but since I decide to forgo it this year on my birthday I have reallllly been wanting to make it.

So I've been trying to convince my mother to let me make it for a few weeks now. But she, being the lady who didn't want me to enjoy life by letting me make a red velvet cake or aka mom, was obstinate about me not making a red velvet cake because my little brothers cannot eat red dye. I get that. My brother Noble will go nuts when he eats red dye and if you know Noble you'll understand why we need to suppress his energy as much as possible.
Mom then tried to tell  me that I should make the cake but leave the red dye out. Her words "the red dye doesn't add any flavor" and while that might be true that would just not be prudent. Before I could even contemplate that idea, it was out. Brown velvet cake. Not the same. 

THEN she tried to get me to put blended up beet root in the cake to make it red. Okay, ew. I'm sure it would turn out great...actually, probably not. No, that would not go down well at all with me. So I finally convinced her to let me pursue the red velvet  with the red dye. My excuse? Valentines day is coming up, and I HAVE to do a red velvet cake for Valentines.  And, not to sound like a complete jerk of a big sister, since my brothers couldn't scarf down these cupcakes in a few hours because of the red dye, they actually stuck around for awhile! Please believe me when I say I didn't make my favorite cake that my little brothers happen to not be able to eat just so I could eat them for days on end! I wouldn't do that....

Seriously though, these rock. The cream cheese frosting complemented these extremely moist and already flavorful red velvet cupcakes perfectly. 
And then I got fancy. Real fancy. Oh, you fancy, huh? Why, yes, yes I am. I melted some chocolate almond bark, put it in a zip lock bag, and made cupcake decorations. The end result was a Valentines day dream. 


*Seeing as though this was my first time making red velvet, I was unsure as to how much red dye I should add. Some recipes called for two whole bottles..I thought that was a little overboard. I ended up using just two tablespoons and they turned out a perfect red color. My fingers also turned out a nice deep red color. 


Red Velvet Cupcake:
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour 
- 1 teaspoon salt 
- 1 1/2 cups sugar 
- 1 cup canola (or vegetable) oil 
- 2 large eggs 
- 2 tablespoons red food coloring 
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
- 1 cup buttermilk 
- 1/2 cup hot (but not boiling) water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar


Frosting:
- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
– 2 tablespoons heavy cream



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Sift together flour, salt, and cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Mix sugar and oil on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until combined. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. 

4. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. 

5. Stir together baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl. Add baking-soda mixture to batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds. Mix in the hot water until just combined. 

6. Pour batter into prepared liners. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks.

For Frosting:

1. In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, mix together the softened cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract. 

2. Add the confectioner's sugar in batches until the frosting comes together and there are no lumps. 
3. Add whipping cream until desired consistency is reached.
4. Put in piping bag and pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.

Fro decorations:

1. Put one block of almond bark (you can also use candy chocolate) in an open zip lock bag. Microwave for 30 second intervals until melted. 

2. Once melted, snip a tiny hole in the corner of the zip lock bag.

2. Now, almond bark hardens very quickly, which is why it is good for decorations but is awful when it hardens in the bag in that middle of making a decoration. So, working quickly, pipe out desired shapes onto wax paper. You will probably have to re-melt it a few times.

3. Let harden and then peel off and decorate cupcakes as you like:)

Dad's words when seeing the cupcakes: "Sarah, these look like they would be sold somewhere fancy..like Starbucks!" Starbucks....

- Sarah -

Valentines Dessert with the Reynolds

 So one day, I luckily stumbled across this recipe on someone else's blog. it was love at first sight when I saw these cupcakes before my eyes, and I knew I had to make them for Valentines dessert.  The cupcake itself was the BEST cupcake I have ever eaten. Unlike most cupcakes, these cupcakes had so much flavor and were so rich. Although it was a lot harder to light the strawberry then i anticipated, some strawberries lit eventually. If you just want to make an amazing chocolate cupcake, then make this recipe without the strawberries and rum. You can also try the strawberries and rum, but lighting the rum was a hard task.

http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/01/chocolate-cupcakes-with-flaming.html

Ingredients for Cupcake:

- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup hot water
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract

 Directions for Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line muffin tin with cupcake papers and set aside.

3. Put the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.

 Add eggs, water, heavy cream, oil and vanilla.

4. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each half full.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Let cool before frosting.

Ingredients for Frosting:

-2 sticks softened butter

- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

- Heavy Cream

Directions for Frosting:

1. In the bowl of mixer fitted with whisk attachment, cream together sugar, cocoa and butter; beginning on low speed then increase to high. Add Heavy cream, a little at a time, until frosting becomes thinner. 

2. Beat until fluffy and lightened in color.  Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip.  

                                                                                      

3. Frost cupcakes.

Strawberries:

- 8-24 Strawberries(you'll need as many as you have cupcakes)

- Vodka, rum, or your choice of liquor 80 proof or higher (over-proof such as 110 will give you a yellow flame)

Directions:

1. Hollow the strawberries carefully.  If you pierce the side of the strawberry accidentally, start with a new one.  Since you'll be setting the liquor aflame, it is important that the strawberry is leak-proof.

2. Set one strawberry atop each frosted cupcake.  

 3. Fill strawberries with liquor just before lighting.

It took us awhile to light the strawberries, but they are super cool when they light!