S'mores Cupcakes

Happy National S'mores Day!

What? You didn't know it was a thing either? I'm quickly discovering that there's a national day for just about everything, but in this case, I'm totally on-board with celebrating the summertime staple that is the s'more. And, of course, because I'm me, I had to throw my own touch on it and talk cupcakes -- S'mores cupcakes.

Making these cupcakes is pretty straight-forward. Your key ingredients are going to be your go-to chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream recipes, marshmallow creme, graham crackers, and jumbo-sized marshmallows.

Bake the cupcakes as normal, then core out the middle. There are lots of techniques for doing this, but my favorite is simply using a cupcake corer and pushing down the center of the cake to create a hole. For me, it guarantees I'm not removing the entire cupcake center -- you still want cake on the bottom to ensure the filling doesn't ooze out once the wrapper is removed.

I filled a disposable pastry bag full of marshmallow creme and just piped it into the cupcakes, being sure to fill it all the way to the top.

I added my chocolate buttercream and sprinkled some crushed graham crackers on top.

Now you're ready for the final step. Take your jumbo marshmallows and place on a cookie sheet. You're going to broil the marshmallows for a minute or so, just until they start to turn this golden brown. Be sure to watch the marshmallows (I had my oven light on the whole time); you can't set a timer for this one -- you need to actually monitor them so they don't burn.

Gently place the roasted marshmallows on top of the cupcake and voila! A gorgeous, super yummy cupcake alternative to standard s'mores. Enjoy!

Construction-themed Party Treats

When a former coworker of mine asked if I'd be interested in making some treats for her grandson's first birthday, I jumped at the chance to work on a project that didn't entail pastel colors and flowers (not because I don't love them, but because it's just what I usually gravitate toward).

Construction-themed smash cake & sugar cookies

Everyone's inspired by Pinterest, right? But the problem with a lot of "pinned" cakes, especially themed-cakes, is that they're made of fondant -- not exactly great for a little boy's smash cake. So instead we focused on making the cake as editable as possible for a toddler while still encompassing the road construction-based party theme.

What one-year old can resist a triple chocolate smash cake?

I found a great, simple cake on Pinterest (courtesy of The Celebration Shoppe) and recreated it with dark chocolate buttercream frosting and crumbled chocolate pie crust "dirt". I found the CAT mini machines and construction cone candles on Amazon (links below).

Close-up on the chocolate pie crust "dirt"

For the cookies, I wanted to have a few different varieties to make the platter interesting, but stick to simple colors and designs. I decided to play up the yellow and orange from the cake decorations and made hard hats, dump trucks, and construction cones. I also wanted to make it clear that this was a first birthday celebration, so I made a bunch of number one cookies (some with polka dots to keep it fun).

I really love the chocolate sprinkle "dirt" on the dump truck:

If only real dirt tasted like chocolate sprinkles...

Thank you for letting me be part of your day, Noah! Happy birthday!

Other notes:

I ordered the CAT Mini Machine 5-pack and Construction Cone Candles from Amazon, but I've also seen them at party supply stores.
I found the number one and construction-themed cookie cutters at CheapCookieCutters.com.
To tint the royal icing, I used AmeriColor gel paste colors Egg Yellow and Lemon Yellow (for the construction yellow) and a combination of Orange and Tulip Red for the vibrant orange shade.

Nutella Cupcakes

Nutella. It's pretty much my favorite thing in the world. Hazelnut and chocolate...um, yeah. Amazing. Fill some chocolate cupcakes with it and add some super creamy Nutella buttercream and it's pretty much game over.

These cupcakes require two full jars of Nutella, so be sure to stock up before making these. And use the name brand stuff -- trust me, you can taste the difference.

People always ask me about these baking cups -- they're Wilton's Black Wave Standard Baking Cups. I love using these because they add some visual interest to standard cupcakes and don't fade in the oven. They kind of "frame" the light chocolate buttercream draw attention to the simple hazelnut garnish.

Get the full recipe here: NUTELLA CUPCAKES

Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies

I tried making chocolate sugar cookies for the first time several years ago, just to have something to change up the traditional sugar cookies I make for decorating. They tasted great right out of the oven -- like little brownies -- but they hardened quickly and didn't taste very chocolatey.

I've tested a few other recipes since then and had similar results. If they tasted great, they spread while baking. If they didn't spread, they didn't taste that great. And then I found this recipe. And I made many, many cookies, as evidenced by the small collection below.

I wanted to try a non-traditional color palette for these cookies -- something that would really pop against the deep chocolate color of the cookies (another major plus of this recipe). I decorated the cookies above using my FAVORITE ROYAL ICING recipe and four AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste colors -- Bright White, Royal Blue, Sky Blue, and (a very soft) Teal. I love the accent of the dark blue against the other shades -- it's almost like a Delft blue -- very rich and unexpected for holiday cookies. To get the fine detail, I used an Ateco #2 tip for the flooding and a #1.5 for the lines and dots.

There were so fun to make -- they are a deep chocolate flavor that holds it's shape while baking (see the snowflakes? You can't get much better than that) and makes for a striking backdrop for lighter shades of icing.

You can find the detailed recipe here: DARK CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

Who doesn't like hot cocoa on a cold, snowy day? I've lived in Minnesota my whole life; to us, a mug of hot chocolate symbolizes the end of a fun day sledding, having snowball fights, or, on some occasions, the blessed end to shoveling...again.

I used two different recipes I found online and mixed them up a bit to create these. It's actually the second time I've tried making these, and this time I managed to capture the hot cocoa flavor without it being too overpowering.

Half the fun of making these cupcakes is the fun ways you can decorate them. I saw an adorable version on Pinterest that used candy canes as little mug "handles", but I didn't like having the peppermint mixed in with the buttercream (just my opinion). They certainly added some festive flair, however -- especially cute for the holidays. I chose to stick to the classics -- marshmallows and mini chocolate chips.

Find the full recipe here: HOT COCOA CUPCAKES