Monday, May 28, 2012

Shine on Through the Rain

Lately we've had nothing but rain and cloudy days here in little ol' Morden. Now I'm not complaining at all, it's just some sun would be nice every now and then. But never fear! One does not simply stop enjoying life because the weather is not enjoyable. No sir. Rain is actually perfect weather. For baking.

So baking is just what I've been doing.


I'm not sure if what I'm about to say applies to everyone, or just to my own life but this is my story. Every single time I have plans to do something outdoors....it rains. Every time.

For instance, I had a wind-up for Kids Zone yesterday....and it rained...and rained....and rained some more. But don't even worry! I brought the outdoors indoors with some cupcakes!

I've done s'more cupcakes before (here is a link for y'all), but what s'more is complete without graham crackers?! So here's my newly done s'more cupcakes (complete with graham crackers).

Saturday was a rainy day...as was Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and today. But Saturday was also a baking day! But not a typical baking day for me...I bake solo. My cupcakes, my kitchen: mine. But on Saturday I had a guest baker join me! Ha, that sounds professional. My boyfriend assisted me in baking these beauts. Well, I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone. I did most of the baking, he just made the messes.


No, I'm just kidding. It t'was a grand ol' time. And they turned out incredibly well, so I shall share the recipe...okay maybe just the technique because there isn't really a recipe.

I got the idea from the Martha Stewart S'more Cupcake recipe....but her chocolate cupcakes are super complex and the marshmallow frosting was even more time consuming, so I improvised. But I used her graham cracker crust recipe.

These cupcakes are super neat when you unwrap them! There's a graham cracker crust on the bottom of the liner, followed by chocolate chips, followed by chocolate cupcake, followed by more graham cracker crumbs, followed by a marshmallow.

For the crust, I used this recipe:
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/3 cups melted butter
*Mix those ingredients in a bowl
*...and that's about it.

I guess you could just make the cupcakes right in the pan without liners, but for convenience I used liners.

*Make sure to pre-heat your oven to 350*F before you start this.
*Scoop a bit of the crust crumbs into each liner and squish 'em down with a spoon...or your fingers.
*After that I (well, technically we) sprinkled some chocolate chips to cover the crusts in each liner.
*Pop these guys into the oven for five minutes
*Remove the pan from the oven and scoop the cupcake batter ontop of the crust and chocolate
*Sprinkle some of the crust crumbs over the batter
*And pop 'em back in the oven for a few minutes less then the baking time of the recipe
*When the cupcakes are done, remove them from the oven and rest a marshmallow on top of each one (For mini's I used half of a regular size marshmallow, and a whole one for regular cupcakes)
*And back in the oven one more time! For about 3 minutes, until the marshmallows start to puff up
*Take them out of the oven for the last time and squish the marshmallows around to cover the cupcake
*If you want to brown the tops of the marshmallows, broil them for a few minutes. But watch them carefully so they don't burn!

Without and with marshmallow
Taadaaa! That looks kinda complex, but it's super easy! And tastes super good too.


Remember how I said they look cool? This is kinda what I mean ^^ The layers make the cupcakes look sweet and each cupcake is unique which is cool too.

Well I hope you're enjoying the weather. Cold, rainy, hot, windy, sunny, snowing, whatever you have: take advantage of it!

Happy Monday,
Sydney <3

Friday, May 04, 2012

If love was water, I'd give you an Ocean

Lately I've been in a summer-kinda mood. And it's not really summer yet. And it's actually pretty cold outside today. And it feels more like Fall then spring. And I keep bursting into random singing sprees...of Christmas songs.

But if summer refuses to show up, don't you worry your pretty little minds (Any Taylor Swift fans out there?). I've managed to catch a few pieces of summer and create my version of an edible summer.

Okay, maybe not of a whole summer...but a day of summer...

On a cupcake.

Because lets face it, everything tastes better if it's made into a cupcake.

I mean a beach is great. I love the beach. But it's a tad chilly to have a beach day right now.

So I had my own little beach party....in my kitchen...while it was raining...


Taadaa! If you can't go to the beach, create your own! And that is precisely what I did.

These are my lovely Bare Naked Cupcakes... that are no longer bare naked. But lovely, nonetheless.

My wonderful, amazing, beautiful, crazy talented friend, Abbey, had a birthday a while ago...and these were for her (PS. check out her blog. Just promise not to leave mine because you like hers more).

Don't panic! I promise I did not rub sand all over the cupcakes to make them look like the beach. No no. I'm not that crazy.

Brown sugar.

Looks just like sand.

Thank you, Cake Boss, for teaching me that.


As for the water...I had a small struggle to create that. But I surprised myself once again and was able to get creative.

Want the down low?

The inside scoop?

My super secret recipe?

There is none.

Ha.

Surprise!

There's no surprise!

I am 100% not capable of making my own piping gel. But thanks to Wilton's Sparkle Piping Gel, that's not even a problem. Blue food coloring it up, and welcome to the ocean!


Pineapples remind me of summer too.

And of Florida.

Do pineapples even grow in Florida?

(pause for a quick google search)

Yes, they do indeed. In fact, a very unreliable source tells me that Florida used to be the largest pineapple producer in the world.

And my other very wonderful, darling, gorgeous friend, Jaidyn, had a birthday just yesterday! And she has a weird (in a loving way) obsession with pineapples.

Marshmallow Fondant has become my friend lately. It's so versatile! Flowers, lettering, borders, animals, surfboards, and pineapples. Or anything else not on the list!


And on that note, I shall sign off!

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it :)
-Sydney