Who Wants S'More Cupcakes??

Cupcake & Marshmallow frosting recipe from the Pastry Affair

Ganache recipe from Natasha's Kitchen

What you need:

Graham Cracker Cupcakes-

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs separated (room temperature)

1 cup cake flour (sifted)

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup milk

Chocolate Ganache Glaze-

8 oz (1/2 lb or 1 1/3 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Marshmallow Frosting-

4 egg whites (room temperature)

1 cup sugar

How to make them:

* Make sure all cupcake ingredients are room temperature, if not the cupcakes will come out dense. *

Cupcakes -

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Line cupcake pans with liners.

In a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is fluffy, about 30 seconds.

Add the sugar and beat together until light and fluffy, about 7-8 minutes.

Add in the egg yolks to the butter mixture one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between additions.

Rinse off the electric mixer paddle.

In another bowl, beat together the egg whites until they are voluminous and foamy.

In a food processor, pulverize the graham cracker crumbs until they are very small crumbs.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix with a  spatula.

Add 1/2 cup of milk.

Mix and add another 1/3 of the flour, then the rest of the milk and rest of the flour.

Add the foaming eggs whites and fold the mixture until combined.

Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, filling them 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until the cupcake tops bounce back with pressed or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

Cool completely on cooling rack.

Ganache-

In a small pot, bring heavy cream to a simmer on the stove top, stirring occasionally.

Just as soon as you see a simmer, remove from heat and poor over chocolate chips, swirling the bowl to make sure all the chips are covered.

Place a lid on bowl of the chocolate chip mixture to trap the heat and let sit undisturbed (NO mixing) for 5 minutes.

Remove the lid and swirl the chocolate chips with a whisk starting in the center and working outward until smooth. 

Once its velvety, let it sit uncovered at room temperature (70˚F) for about 15 minutes before glazing cupcakes.

Frosting-

In a double broiler, whisk together the egg whites and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved and the egg whites are warm to the touch, about 3-4 minutes.

Remove from the heat, transfer to the medium mixing bowl and beat the egg whites until they form shiny stiff peaks, about 5 - 8 minutes.

Scoop into a piping bag to decorate the cupcakes.

Assembling-

Take a graham cracker cupcake and dunk the top of the cupcake into the chocolate ganache, let excess drip back into the bowl.

Dunk all cupcakes, set aside.

Using the piping bag with the frosting, pipe the marshmallow on top of the chocolate ganache.

Continue doing the rest of the cupcakes.

Using a hand held pastry torch or the broiler in the oven, toast the marshmallow to get a nice toasty look.

Garnish with a graham cracker or just eat it as is, ENJOY!

Cupcakes for a Caterpillar

Recipe from Best Friends for Frosting

What you need:

Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

1 TBsp baking powder

1 cup milk (room temperature)

1/2 tsp salt

2 egg white and 1 whole egg (room temperature)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 oz unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Frosting

2 1/2 cups sugar

6 large egg whites (room temperature)

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Green food coloring (optional)

How to make them:

Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Line the cupcake pans with liners, set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.

In a pitcher or medium bowl, add the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract; mix everything with a whisk.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter for 2 minutes, then add the sugar. 

Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes until butter/sugar mixture is very fluffy and light in color.

On a lower speed, add the flour mixture and egg/milk mixture to the butter/sugar mixture;staring with the flour mixture, then beat.

Add the egg/milk mixture and beat again; continue steps beating after each addition, until mixture is well incorporated.

When everything is mixed throughly, continue beating for another minute, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Take the whipped cream out of the fridge and beat in a new bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment.

Do NOT beat whipped cream until stiff, only until peaks just start to hold, they should be soft.

With a spatula fold the whipped cream into the cupcake batter.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake pan using an ice cream scoop, fill liners 2/3 full.

Bake cupcakes for 14-16 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Take out of the oven and let cool on for 1 minute, then take out of the pan and cool on a wire rack.

When completely cooled, top with the Marshmallow Frosting.

Marshmallow Frosting

To make the frosting, combine the sugar, egg whites, water, and cream of tartar in a bowl of an electric mixer.

Whisk until everything is extremely well incorporated and a little foamy.

Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk, about 5 minutes, the sugar needs to be dissolved.

To test if the sugar is dissolved, a rub a little bit of the mixture between two fingers.

You will notice undissolved sugar crystals, stir a little longer until sugar is completely dissolved.

Now, transfer your bowl to stand mixer with the whisk attachment.

Mix on high speed until the marshmallow frosting forms stiff peaks, about 11-15 minutes.

Add the vanilla extract and (optional) food coloring, beat again until combined.

Transfer the frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a tip of your choice.

Pipe the marshmallow frosting on the cooled cupcakes.

Garnish with some sprinkles if you want, then ENJOY!

Cupcake Couture

     I love baking, especially cupcakes!  Finding new recipes and trying them out is such a delicious challenge I take head on!  What makes it more fun is when I can bake up a tasty treat for my son or daughter's birthday or a friend's baby shower or special holiday get together.

I baked up these Chocolate Chip Cupcakes for my friend's Enchanting Butterfly Baby Shower

I made these for Kinley's Rainbow 1st Birthday Party

These were fun for Liam's Skylander 6th Birthday Party

These minty cupcakes were for my sister's Baby Shower

These Strawberry Lovecakes were for Liam's Valentine's Day party at school 

Liam's Angry Bird 5th Birthday Party cupcakes

We celebrated 4th of July Crafternoon with these Snow Cone Cupcakes

Made these colorful cupcakes for my sister's Baby Shower too

Margarita Cupcakes for our March Crafternoon

Horton Hears a Who Cupcakes to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day

July Crafternoon with Cheeseburger Cupcakes

Also made these Cotton Candy my sister's Baby Shower

Celebrating Halloween with some festive Jack Skellington Cupcakes

Some throwback cupcakes for a Vintage Baby Shower 

Love the neon colors on these 80's Cupcakes

One of my favorite parties to host included these Twilight Cupcakes

It's Tea Time with these Black Tea Cupcakes for January Crafternoon

Liam loved these Alien Cupcakes from his Toy Story 3rd Birthday Party

March Crafternoon with these Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

These Brain Cupcakes were ghoulishy good 

Made some Batman Cupcakes for a friend's son's birthday

Mad Hatter cupcakes for my friend's Mad Hatter Tea Baby Shower

Lots and lots of fun festive cupcakes! Pretty to look at and yummy to eat!

Margaritas & Cupcakes

     So where did I leave off.....oh yeah, so after we got soaked by the monsoon that decided to hover over Austin we drove over to Guero's Taco Bar for some more snacks and margaritas. It was so good, we just had to have it again.  It was nice to sit out on the patio with my man, listening to the dripping rain, watching people pass by, sipping on some tasty margaritas, and dunking our house made tortillas into some awesome queso!

     After our Mexican fiesta, we walked across the street to Hey Cupcake a cupcake truck.  We wanted to bring home some cupcakes for the family.  We got a mini half dozen cupcakes to go.

With our cupcakes in tow, we headed out to Driftwood, Texas for lunch.....

Last Day of School Cupcakes

     For one of Liam's last days of school, I made these and brought them for his class.  They turned out really yummy and were somewhat healthy since they were loaded with lots of apples!

Modified from the recipe from Made in Melissa's Kitchen

What you need:

Cupcakes
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 tsp pure vanilla exract
4 cups coarsely shredded apples (Macintosh, about 1 3/4 lbs)
Frosting
2 large egg whites (room temperature)
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter (cut into tablespoons)
Red food coloring gel
Garnish
Chocolate Tootsie Rolls
Lime Tootsie Rolls
Red sanding sugar
Mini chocolate or plain donuts

How to make them:
Cupcakes Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners, set aside. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugar into a bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, mix in apples. Add flour mixture, mix, scrapping down sides of bowl as needed, until just combined. Divide batter among lined cups, filling halfway, bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tins, transfer to wire rack, let cool completely. Frosting Put egg whites and sugar into the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch (160˚F). Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue beating until mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes. Switch to paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter, several tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. (If frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3-5 minutes more.) Reduce speed to low, add a few drops of red food coloring, mix to incorporate and to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth. To garnish, cut donuts in half. Spred a little frosting on the top of the cupcake, then place one half of the cut donut on top of the frosting, cut side down. Spread some frosting over cupcake and donut until even and smooth. Dip the frosted cupcake into a bowl of the red sanding sugar. Cut the chocolate Toostie roll in half, then scalp into a stem shape. Stick the stem into the center on top of the cupcake. Using a rolling pin, roll out the lime Tootsie rolls, then cut out leaf shapes. Stick one leave into the center of the cupcake beside the stem. Then ENJOY!

Spring Break....Monday

     The next day was Tuesday, we didn't have much planned that day, except for me baking up some of my Margarita Cupcakes and later meeting up with the hubby's family for dinner.   So we just hung out most of the day, it was nice not having to take Liam to school, or go grocery shopping, or take kiddos to doctor appointments, we could just relax.

We hung out with some our really good friends (the kiddo's Godparents) before heading to eat with the In-Laws.  Liam liked wearing the Storm Trooper helmut.

We decided to go to Pappasitos, one of the hubby's favorite restaurants.  We usually have great service, but that night it was terrible.  We were so disappointed.  The service was extremely slow, the messed up the order, and they were out of green chili salsa.  The dinner started off great, Kinley and Liam colored but as the night continued they were so tired and ready to go home.  We were there for about 3 hours!

Liam even fell asleep on my lap during dinner he was so tired!

With all the mishaps at dinner it was still nice to be with family and make memories.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

Recipe from Desserts for Breakfast

What you need:

Cupcakes-

3 cups sugar

3 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

1 cup and 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

2 1/4 tsp baking soda

3 eggs, slightly beaten (room temperature)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cup hot coffee

** Frosting- 

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

8 oz unsweetened chocolate (finely chopped)

12 TBsp unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

**The cupcake recipe makes A LOT of cupcakes, so I doubled the Frosting recipe.**

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, four, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the beaten eggs, vegetable oil, and milk; stir to mix.

Then, with mixer on low, pour wet mixture into the dry mixture; mix on low until evenly distributed.

Pour the hot coffee into the batter and mix on medium low until smooth, the batter will be soupy.

Divide the batter between the cupcake liners.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out cleanly.

Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.

For the frosting

In a saucepan, bring the sugar and heavy cream to a boil over medium heat.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer the cream and sugar for 6 minutes.

Be careful not to let the saucepan overflow.

Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate and butter until they have completely melted.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Let the frosting cool completely, whisking every now and then during cooling.

To speed up the process, place in the freezer (really fast), or in the refrigerator (fast) for awhile, whisking every now and then until frosting is spreadable or can be piped.

Spread or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.

Garnish with chocolate sprinkles then ENJOY!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Cupcake recipe from Get Sweet Smart

 Frosting recipe adapted from Audrey's

What you need:

Cupcakes-

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

8 TBsp unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs (room temperature)

2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

seeds from 1 vanilla bean

1 1/4 cups milk (room temperature)

Frosting-

1 tub of mascarpone

1 cup of powdered sugar (sifted)

seeds of half of a vanilla bean

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups of whipping cream

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Line two muffin tins with cupcake wrappers.

In a small bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for 3-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Slowly add eggs one at a time until combined.

Add vanilla and vanilla bean seeds to milk.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat with mixer until well combined.

Then at 1/3 milk and mix throughly.

Repeat with remaining ingredients, scraping bowl as needed.

Scoop batter into prepared pans and bake 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes completely on wire racks before frosting.

To make the frosting:

Combine the mascarpone and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

Add the vanilla beans, vanilla extract, and whipping cream.

Whip at medium-high speed until cream turns into a whipped cream consistency.

DO NOT over whip the mixture.

Spread or pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.

Garnish with white sprinkles then ENJOY!

Margarita Cupcakes

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

What you need:

Cupcakes-

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

zest and juice of 1 1/2 limes

2 TBsp Tequila

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

Glaze-

1 to 2 TBsp Tequila

Frosting-

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

1 TBsp lime juice

2 TBsp Tequila

Pinch of coarse salt

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 325˚F.

Line muffin tine with cupcake liners, set aside.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the mixer speed to medium, add the eggs in one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract, and tequila.

Mix until combined (the mixture may start to look curdled at this point, but will come back together)

Reduce the mixer speed to low.

Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches.

Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until slightly golden, and when toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

Allow cupcakes to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 Tbsp of tequila.

Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.

To make frosting, whip the butter on medium-hight speed of an electric mixer for 5 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium-low, gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated.

Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds.

Add the lime juice, tequila, and salt, mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy.

(If the frosting appears too soft, add some more powdered sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached.)

Frost cupcakes, garnish with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of coarse salt, and a lime wedge, then ENJOY!!