Tuesday, March 30, 2010

S'mores!

Lately I've become obsessed with finding a way to make a cupcake that tastes like a s'more. It all started because I saw two recipes for s'more cupcakes and neither one sounded all that original or delicious.

So, I've become determined to make my own.

The first attempt was using a crumb cupcake recipe I got from the book Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans. I used graham cracker crumbs instead of most of the flour and used a plain old yellow cake recipe in between the crumb layers along with sticking a few oven toasted marshmallows and some chocolate ganache inside.

I really thought this idea would work, but the end result was very sad-looking. And, though the were very delicious, I'm afraid to say that they tasted nothing whatsoever like a s'more.

I think it's funny that in all of this my favorite part was discovering that it is possible to toast marshmallows in the oven! That is just amazing! I thought they wouldn't taste as good as when you're outside by the bonfire toasting them the "old fashioned way," but I will let you in on a secret: They taste exactly the same, either way! I know, it's completely shocking.

I just turned the broiler on, sprayed oil a cookie sheet, put a piece of parchment paper down then oiled that as well, spread out the marshmallows and stuck them in the oven for a few minutes, but be sure to keep an eye on them!


After all the trials, I ended up with a graham cracker cupcake, a filling of semi-sweet chocolate and toasted marshmallows, and a marshmallow/meringue topping.

I think that there is still some changes needed to make these spectacular, but they are definitely on the right track! And pretty darn cute.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Car Bomb Cupcakes

Hello Everybody!

Welcome to the Cupcakes by Christine blog! Today is a very important day, St. Patrick's Day. This is an important day because the first time I learned I had any sort of baking skills whatsoever was when I made the Chocolate Whiskey and Beer cupcakes which are car bombs in cupcake form (a completely genius idea) from Smitten Kitchen (my favorite food blog).

They were the best cupcakes I'd ever eaten and I was hooked! I brought them to a party and when people started fighting over the last few, I started to wonder...