Smore Cupcakes

These are my new favourite cupcakes!!!

I love taking two different desserts, mashing them together to create one bundle of awesome. In this case, the classic campfire treat of Smores is the theme, but it takes shape in form of a cupcake.

Also, any opportunity to use a blow torch in the kitchen is one that should be jumped upon. The potential of lighting cupcake papers on fire is real... and thrilling.

MUCH CUTENESS!

Graham flour and honey flavour the cake part of these cupcakes, reminding us of graham crackers. A semi-sweet chocolate ganache is spooned over, and a marshmallow frosting is whipped together in no time at all to sit all cute and pretty on the very top.

As if that were not enough to achieve the ultimate crowd pleaser, the marshmallow frosting is TOASTED! We are bringing the campfire to our kitchen, people. It feels so great!

 Serve these cuties at a party outdoors on a summer evening, preferably with patio lights and good music. They are serious friend makers. Trust me, I speak from experience.

Smore Cupcakes

Recipe from Martha Stewart (Gotta love her, or at least her cupcakes)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups graham flour (found it at Community Natural Foods, Bob’s Red Mill brand)

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

6 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Whisk together both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in honey, then eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients on low speed.

Divide batter into muffin tins... I used mini muffin tins.

Bake at 350 (325 for our oven). I baked the minis for 15 minutes. The original recipe for regular sized cupcakes calls for 25 minutes.

Made about 4.5 dozen mini cupcakes. (recipe makes regular sized cupcakes and claims to yield 2 dozen)

Chocolate Ganache Glaze:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I did 5 oz semisweet, 1 oz bittersweet... because I love me some bittersweet)

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp corn syrup

Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the cream and syrup until steamy and hot, but not boiling!

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 5 or so minutes. Stir slowly with a spatula to gradually combine the two until you have a silky smooth ganache!

Marshmallow Frosting

1 tbsp powdered gelatin

1/3 cup cold water (for gelatin)

1/4 cup water (for pot)

1 cup sugar

In the bowl of a standing mixer, sprinkle the gelatin over the 1/3 cup cold water. Let stand to soften. (about 5 minutes)

Heat the remaining 1/4 cup water with the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot. Let the sugar bubble and boil until the temperature reaches 238 degrees F - “soft-ball” stage. Remove from the heat, and add to gelatin mixture. Whisk by hand for about one minute to cool slightly. Then use the standing mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium high speed for 8-10 minutes until  soft, glossy white peaks form. Use immediately, as the frosting begins to harden and set quickly.

Cupcake assembly:

 For mini cupcakes, spread about 1 tsp ganache glaze over the tops. Pipe marshmallow frosting with a plain round tip. Use a kitchen torch to lightly toast the frosting... just like a marshmallow!!!

HOLY MOLY! These cupcakes are WINNNNERRRSSSS!!

XOXO Lari

Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cake

Chocolate and Mint. Arguably one of the best combinations of all time. And when it is in the form of a chocolate cake with a dark chocolate frosting spiked with peppermint and garnished with crushed candy canes... it is no exception! I first made this cake for somebody else, but I, along with the rest of my family, was slightly jealous that we did not get to indulge in the cake eating experience. So, at our next family dinner my mother requested demanded that I make one for us! It is now going to be a holiday staple around my house... it is simply divine. We served it with some festive peppermint ice cream alongside... ohhh baby! I just love the holidays!

Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cake

Chocolate Cake:

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 cup buttermilk

1) Stir together the cocoa powder and the boiling water, set aside.

2)Cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla, then the eggs.

3) In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Alternate adding the dry ingredients to the butter mixture with the buttermilk, mixing until just combined after each addition. Blend in the cocoa powder/water mixture.

4)Pour the batter into two greased and floured 9" round cake pans. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool the cakes inside their pans for at least ten minutes, then let them cool completely before frosting.

When I bake cake, I usually bake it a few days of even weeks in advance. Once your cake is baked and cooled completely, you can wrap up the individual layers and pop it in the freezer. It can chill out there for up to 3 months! So that when it is time for cake, all you have to do is pull it out of the freezer and decorate it. By the time your guests have arrived and it's dessert time, your cake will be ready to be devoured, and you will have minimal "last-minute-cake" stress. :)

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Frosting:

• 2 2/3 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 6 tbsp butter
• 5 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Cream the butter, add the cocoa powder, milk and vanilla and peppermint. Gradually add the icing sugar until it is the consistency you dream of.

Assembly time!

Place one cake layer on a fancy platter which you are going to present your masterpiece on. Cover the top with about one third of the frosting. Place the other cake layer on top, and coat the top and the sides of the cake with the remaining frosting in an even layer. Use your knife or spatula to make pretty little swirls of frosting on the top of the cake.

For the sides of my cake, I took peppermint flavoured candy canes and crushed them using a rolling pin. Then I took the crushed candy in my hands and gracefully slap it on the sides of the cake, pressing gently to adhere it. Those little bits of candy cane that don't stick to the sides and just fall onto the platter need not go to waste! Just sweep them off the plate and continue adhering them to the rest of your cake.

TADAA! A chocolatey-minty-masterpiece :)

PS I decided last minute to decorate the top of my cake with two little candy canes making a cute little heart. Awe.

<3 Lari

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

Gingerbread: a classic flavour during Christmas time, no? Gingerbread and Christmas just go together like two peas in a pod. One is not the same without the other.
However... sometimes... things are just too good to only be eaten once a year. These cookies fall into that category. Hence why I made them a few weeks ago!
Enter the chocolatey-goodness of Chocolate Ginger Cookies! This is one of my favourite recipes. They have an amazing ginger flavour thanks to fresh and ground ginger, and the chocolate flavour from cocoa powder along with chunks of chocolate throughout makes them so much better than an average ginger snap. Because let's get real, chocolate chunks make everything better, am I right?
Perfect when paired with a hot chocolate by the fire on a cold winter's eve... Or anytime during the year when you just want really delicious cookies. Add a glass of cold milk into the mix, and you're golden.

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

Recipe from my friend Martha

• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp flour
• 1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger (peeled!)
• 1/2 brown sugar (light or dark is fine, I used dark)
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp boiling water
• 7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (or bittersweet if you are feeling dark and dangerous) cut into chunks, or you can use about 1 cup of chocolate chips in a pinch!
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

In a bowl, sift the flour, spices and cocoa powder. In a mixer, cream together the butter and ginger until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add sugar, beat it! Add molasses, beat it! Like Michael Jackson.

In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda with the boiling water. Beat half of the flour into the butter mixture, followed by the baking soda mixture, followed by the remaining flour, beating until just combined after each addition. Stir in the chocolate. shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge until firm, 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 325 (300 if you have a crazy hot oven, like moi). Line baking sheets with parchment or Silpats. (Note: Silpats are the best invention ever, and are well worth an investment.)

Roll dough into small balls, about 1 1/2" or however big you desire. Place 2" apart on baking sheets and chill for 20 minutes. Roll them in the granulated sugar, and if you wish, flatten them a tiny bit with the palm of your hand or a fork. They will spread a tiny bit when they bake, but I do like to flatten them a bit myself to help them out. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes or so on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Eat one fresh while the chocolate is still melty, and you will experience euphoria.

<3 Larissa

Mocha Fudge Brownie Cake

I have an apology to make: I do not have a good photo of this cake. I am sorry! But it is one of those things where I made it in the morning before school, and when I came back the family was already into it before there was time to snap a photo! Luckily, I have this Instagram for proof. Sometimes things are just too fantastic to stop and take a photo. Live life as it happens, you know? You can choose to keep, or omit the happy birthday message to my Great Auntie Irene; I am sure she wouldn't mind either way.

Let me first say that this is one of the best cakes I have ever eaten or made. I know, that's a big thing to say, but it truly was delish. I have been craving a brownie lately, and this cake is just what the Brownie Doctor ordered! (Man I wish that was a real profession.) It is beautifully dense like a brownie, and the light coffee-flavoured whip cream is a dreamy accompaniment. If you are opposed to coffee flavoured whip cream (get out of town first) then you can flavour the cream however you like! Strained raspberry puree would be good, or even just some vanilla extract and sugar added to the cream would be great.

Mocha Fudge Brownie Cake

Recipe from Hershey's Chocolate Cookbook

Notes: I switched things up only a tiny bit in this one, I toasted my pecans before chopping them and adding them to the batter, and I would highly recommend it. Also, I used dark brown sugar in the Coffee Cream rather than light... for the simple fact that I forgot to write light brown sugar on the shopping list. Still turned out awesome.

For the BROWNIE CAKE:

• 1 1/4 cups melted butter
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup finely chopped toasted pecans

Prepare your pans for cake batter battle! Do this by greasing two 9" pans with butter, and dust them with flour, tapping out the excess. For extra protection and cake-removal-confidence, cut out a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of your pan with.

Stir together the melted butter and cocoa powder, set aside. Beat eggs in a mixer till foamy, add in salt and vanilla. Add sugar and beat well, add the cooled chocolate mixture and blend. Sift the flour over the batter and fold in. Next fold in the pecan pieces. Pour half the batter into each pan.

Bake at 350 (325 for my oven) for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 5 to 10 minutes, then cool out of pans completely before you frost them, *remember to peel off parchment paper if you used it*. At this stage, you can choose to wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and freeze them (up to 4 weeks) until cake day.

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT OVER BAKING!

Do you want a moist fudgey brownie like cake? Then yeah, no over baking. It is the worst feeling. And I have totally never experienced that before... ahem..

For the COFFEE CREAM:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 2 tsp instant coffee powder

Combine all ingredients and stir until sugar and coffee are dissolved. Beat until you have stiff peaks of fluffy, coffee flavoured whip cream!

KITCHEN TIP!! This is a fun little secret that I learned from hours of studying the Food Network. If you want your whip cream to hold it's fragile peaks and swirls for hours, stir in about 1 tsp of skim milk powder in. You can do this at any stage of whipping it, beginning middle or end... and it works like a dream!

CAKE ASSEMBLY!

Spread the Coffee Cream over the top of the bottom cake layer, spreading right to the edges. Place the top cake layer on top, and frost the top and sides, covering the cake completely. Garnish the cake with whatever you like! The original recipe suggests chocolate curls, I used melted chocolate chips to write a happy birthday message. Refrigerate 1 hour or more before serving.

ENJOY! And happy Cake Baking.

<3 Lari

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

How to lesson # 1: How to make your co-workers like you.
There can be many answers to this question. Possibilities include: being a hard worker, offering to switch shifts with somebody in need, not making a mess in the staff room, being on time, etc. etc.

BORING.

A fail-proof solution, and my go-to: Make them cookies! Feed them delicious home baked goodies! You could make these chocolate crackle cookies... instant friend makers as I like to call them.

I did in fact, make these for my fellow co-workers. The girl who started working when I did had her last shift the other day, so I did what I do best and gave her a parting gift of cookies. And fed the rest to everyone else! It makes farewells a little bit more sweet. Especially when you dunk them in powdered sugar before you bake them. The cookies, that is.
Oh man, these were pretty darn great.

They are super soft! They melt in your mouth! And they are totally chocolatey. What more could you ask for? Oh right, powdered sugar. Makes them look a little more dressed up. It also adds a nice little change of texture on the outside. Like a sugary shell.

How to lesson # 2: How to make Chocolate Crackle Cookies.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Recipe from this book.

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped and melted.
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 butter
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk (recipe calls for whole, which my fridge lacked, so I used skim)
• granulated sugar for rolling
• powdered sugar for rolling

1. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
2. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer until pale and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, then the cooled melted chocolate. Reduce the speed to low. Add in half the flour mixture, followed by the milk, and then finally the other half of the flour. This method is easier than the route I took: Forget completely about the milk altogether, realize it after refrigerating the dough, and attempt to mix it into an already chilled and hardened dough. Don't get me wrong, I made it work ;) but I would not recommend it.
3. Divide your chocolatey dough into four equal pieces, wrap each in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
4. Once dough has chilled sufficiently to your standards, divide each piece into 16 little chunks. Roll them into 1 inch balls, and coat them with the granulated sugar. Next, treat them nice and roll them in a little powdered sugar. It is like a day at the Sugar Spa. place on a parchment lined baking sheet, and flatten them just a wee bit if you like... but not too much! Or they will not be the soft cookies of your dreams.
5. Bake in a 350 oven (or if your oven is like mine, 325 is best) until the surfaces begin to crack. The recipe indicates 14 minutes, but mine took less time, more like 10 minutes.

A note! The ever so wise Martha tells me (not personally, though I would like to think so) that it is important to roll the cookies in both sugars. When I first read that, I thought, TOO MUCH SUGAR. Then I realized, there is no such thing, and also, she tells us this because this way the powdered sugar stays on the outside of the cookie and does not soak in. Makes the finished cookie looking all pretty and white, and gives the outer shell a little bit of texture. Thanks Martha!

<3 Lari