A very happy start of the week to all of you! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that you are ready to put aside your healthy breakfasts and check out these amazing indulgent cupcakes that my friend Chloe baked over the weekend (I taste tested and photographed them).
My friend, Chloe is a whiz when it comes to baking. She has made amazing rainbow
cakes, delicious macaroons (better than store bought ones!) and lots of different types of cupcakes. This year, she has even agreed
to bake a wedding cake for her cousin’s wedding end of this year. I personally cannot wait to see what she comes up with for that big day :)
You can really tell when someone has the love for baking because it shows in the care they take when they are preparing their ingredients/recipes, the way they smile at themselves as they are baking/mixing/assembling and serving it. That is the feeling you get when you see Chloe baking and you know you can trust her to produce the best version of any recipe.
You can really tell when someone has the love for baking because it shows in the care they take when they are preparing their ingredients/recipes, the way they smile at themselves as they are baking/mixing/assembling and serving it. That is the feeling you get when you see Chloe baking and you know you can trust her to produce the best version of any recipe.
When Chloe sent me a photo of her early birthday present… A KitchenAid (whoo hoo!), I knew a baking session would not be far away. We were both so excited about her present!
I love baking sessions with my friends, don't you? Hanging with my favourite people - baking, chatting, eating and taking photos of food – together just puts a big smile on my face.
I love baking sessions with my friends, don't you? Hanging with my favourite people - baking, chatting, eating and taking photos of food – together just puts a big smile on my face.
We held our baking session last Saturday and Chloe
had her heart set on making this recipe: Chocolate
Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow by Jennifer Shea, owner ofTrophy Cupcakes. We used the recipe posted on Martha Stewart’s website.
I affectionately nicknamed them, 'S'Mores' cupcakes as the ingredients reminded me of S'Mores and how great it is when melted marshmallow, biscuits and chocolate hang out together too.
I affectionately nicknamed them, 'S'Mores' cupcakes as the ingredients reminded me of S'Mores and how great it is when melted marshmallow, biscuits and chocolate hang out together too.
Substitutes:The
recipe calls for Graham crackers and as we were in el’Coles, we substituted the
Graham crackers for the milk and coffee variety instead.
Appliances: I had never made marshmallow fluff from scratch before and
I have to say using the KitchenAid to make both the cupcake batter and the
marshmallow fluff really made me want one. (I
can totally see what all the fuss is about!) It is easy, fuss free and most importantly you can add ingredients and have your hands free to do other stuff as it mixes in different speeds. (looks at hand-mixer & wooden spoon, sigh...) Sadly, this dream will have to
remain a dream for a while for I have storage limitations in our small
apartment. Nevertheless, I enjoy a challenge and applying a bit of elbow grease. (note: this is not an advertorial, I
just love a good appliance)
Cooking times: All cooking times indicated on the recipe is accurate so make sure to set time aside as there are a few components to the cupcakes.
Now,
let’s skip over the recipe details as you will have no doubt already clicked on
the link from above and it is calling your name from the other window
tab on your browser. So let’s get to talking about the most important part of
the post. The eating part.
The
cupcake component is a dreamy chocolate cupcake. Not overly fussy or complicated in flavour, it is fluffy but not dry (will refrain
from using the ‘M’ word) and the chocolate is not too overpowering. (Chloe used 70% cocoa baking chocolate throughout this recipe)
The biscuit component of the recipe gives it a nice crunch when you bite into it and when it all comes together with the marshmallow frosting - it tastes so good! We also took turns licking the remaining frosting off the mixing paddle. (naughty, naughty...) There were a lot of er-mer-gerds during our first few bites and these cupcakes were really filling. I could manage one cupcake and that was enough to send me into a sugar coma. Of course, the perks of having baker friends is that you get a take home box after your baking session to share with your loved ones. H ate his in 3 bites. Though, after my third dessert in a month - I am really starting to feel like the evil witch that locked Hansel and Gretel in that candy house, feeding them with candy & cake slowing them down and fattening them up.
(I must remember to make him some healthy food to even out all the sugar. Help! Recommendations please.)
The biscuit component of the recipe gives it a nice crunch when you bite into it and when it all comes together with the marshmallow frosting - it tastes so good! We also took turns licking the remaining frosting off the mixing paddle. (naughty, naughty...) There were a lot of er-mer-gerds during our first few bites and these cupcakes were really filling. I could manage one cupcake and that was enough to send me into a sugar coma. Of course, the perks of having baker friends is that you get a take home box after your baking session to share with your loved ones. H ate his in 3 bites. Though, after my third dessert in a month - I am really starting to feel like the evil witch that locked Hansel and Gretel in that candy house, feeding them with candy & cake slowing them down and fattening them up.
(I must remember to make him some healthy food to even out all the sugar. Help! Recommendations please.)
 |
| If you want marshmallow all over your lips and nose, I would strongly recommend ditching the fork :) |
I had so much fun hanging around Chloe watching her in her element :) Makes me so proud as a friend to see her doing something she loves. As for the cupcakes: I would definitely make these cupcakes again but perhaps as mini cupcakes. They would look super adorable with their little marshmallow peaks sitting pretty all lined up in a row (taking mental photograph... snap*). I loved the rustic feel of the marshmallow frosting that Chloe did versus the perfectly piped version only because sometimes... a cupcake just need to look like they would be no fuss to eat. (even though the mess is strong with this one.) If it were me frosting these cupcakes, I would have abandoned the pretty frosting process and started spreading marshmallow fluff after every bite like it was jam or peanut butter on toast.
What are your favourite recipes that involve marshmallow, chocolate and biscuits?
x Lynnette~
ps. I couldn't get a photo of Chloe during our baking session but I managed to get a photo of her adorable cat, Niles. :) How adorable is he?
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