s'mores cupcakes

Three things that you must know:

1)  I have never actually been camping before.
(Shame on me right?  That's what you get when you live on a berry farm in Summer)

2)  I have made s'mores in Winter by placing a marshmallow on a toothpick, and holding it over a candle.

3)  I definitely borrowed my Dad's blowtorch for these cupcakes since I don't have a proper kitchen one yet....and it just sounded way more exciting.

It's always fun when I get to experiment with something new in the kitchen....and using a blowtorch for these cupcakes was a hoot!  Haha.  Let's say there was quite a bit of squealing and giggling coming from the kitchen as Jordyn and I tested our torching skills!

These cupcakes were inspired by call me cupcake's version, although I used my own chocolate cake recipe!  You should definitely go check her website out!  Some of it is in Swedish, but she always has her recipes in English as well.  It's just so darling!

I'm in love with all of the textures these cupcakes have going on.  The crunchy/crumbly graham cracker crust (that will inevitably end up all over your lap), the fluffy chocolate cake, and finally the little dollop of toasted heaven on top!  So good.

S'mores Cupcakes
inspired by: Linda Lomelino

Ingredients:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp butter (melted)

1/2 cups Flour
1 cups Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Cocoa
1/2 TBSP Vanilla
1 TBSP Vinegar
1/3 cup Margarine (melted)
1 cups Warm Water

3 large egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

*thermometer (for measuring marshmallow frosting temperature)

Instructions:
1) Mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  (If crumbs seem too gooey or too dry, you can just add either a bit more crumbs or butter).
2)  Prepare a cupcake tin with paper liners.  Firmly press a couple teaspoons of crumb mixture into the bottom of 12 liners.
3)  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Set aside.
4)  In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients together.
5)  Pour wet ingredients over dry, and mix until combined.
6)  Pour cake batter into the 12 liners.
7)  Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely.
8)  Mix together egg whites and sugar in a bowl set over a saucepan with gently boiling water.  Whisk constantly to ensure your eggs don't curdle.  Whisk like crazy!  Keep cooking until the mixture reaches 65 degrees celsius. 
9)  Remove from heat and whip on your highest speed until stiff peaks form.  Add in vanilla.
10)  Frost your cupcakes however you like!  I used my largest star tip and a frosting bag, but a large ziplock with the end simply cut out would also work great.
11)  If you have a kitchen torch, then go to town toasting your marshmallow frosting.  
If not, you can place your cupcakes on a cookie sheet and broil them in the oven.  These do not take long at all, so please do not take your eyes off of them!
Or, you can always borrow a blowtorch and toast them that way...

tasty tuesday: camouflage cupcakes

I've moved over to a new blog!  Head over to The Farmers Daughter for the full post and recipe!

p.s.  ♥ kelsey

oh hello, Gatsby.

Hello dear readers! Today is the big reveal of Part I of the Great Gatsby Inspiration photoshoot that I organized and photographed several weeks ago - I had an absolute blast putting together this photoshoot with local Edmonton vendors. We had hair + makeup, a chocolatier (yummy!!), head pieces from a local designer, floral arrangements, Derks menswear, and yours truly with some delicious coconut chocolate cupcakes that were featured on the blog a little while ago. Hope you enjoy this photoshoot and please visit my photography blog for the full post! There's so many lovely photos :)

We love pinners, sharers, and commenters, so please go nuts for us if you love this photoshoot as much as we do!

p.s.  ♥ clara

tasty tuesday : chocolate coconut cupcakes

So here's the deal, I love coconut. Seriously, I am a little obsessed. And I'm not as talented of a baker as miss Kelsey or miss Jordyn... so what am I presenting to you? Their incredible chocolate (cup)cake recipe with a large dose of coconut! Call it a lazy post if you want, but this coconut spin on their chocolate cake recipe was ah-may-zinggg!! And it went perfectly with the Great Gatsby inspiration shoot that I organized last week... that's right dear readers, the Great Gatsby is coming your way and here's the first sneak peek!

Ingredients:
3 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Cocoa

1/4 cup coconut flakes

1 TBSP Vanilla
2 TBSP Vinegar
3/4 cup Margarine (melted)
1 cup Warm Water

1 cup Coconut Milk

Instructions:
1) Mix together all dry ingredients; then pour all wet ingredients over top and mix until moist.
2) Pour batter into 9x13 pan /or 2 round pans /or cupcake tins (makes about 24-30 cupcakes)
3) Bake at 350: for 35-40 minutes for cake [or until a toothpick comes out clean] OR:  for 20-25 minutes for cupcakes.

So if you go --> here <-- you'll find the original recipe and more photos on how to make the batter! And below is the coconut frosting I used to top this delicious cake.

Ingredients for Coconut Frosting:

1 cup butter at room temp

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes 

Mix in the first four ingredients until your icing is a good texture - frost away, and then sprinkle your coconut flakes on top! 

And here's some frames from the Great Gatsby shoot... If you want to see more, visit my website at Clara Cecilia Photography to get the full sneak peek!! 

p.s.  ♥ clara

tasty tuesday: Easter egg bird's nest cupcakes (with toasted coconut nests!)

Is it just me?  Or is Easter supremely early this year?

I can't believe it's just around the corner!  And that means that school is done for me....potentially forever!  Which is both scary and exciting!

Back to the food.  I was inspired by Martha Stewart's version of bird nest cupcakes...and put my own spin on it.  There's cake, toasted coconut, and chocolate.  'Nuff said.

Easter Egg Bird's Nest Cupcakes

Materials:
-cupcakes (doesn't matter what kind....chocolate, mocha, vanilla, brown sugar, etc.)
-icing (again, it doesn't matter! whatever suits your fancy. here's the recipe for our classic buttercream) *your icing should also be pretty soft so that the coconut will stick!
-shredded coconut
-mini eggs

Directions:
Bake your cupcakes and let them cool completely.  Also get your icing ready to go!
Then, place your shredded coconut onto a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes (or until nice and golden!).  While your coconut is cooling, ice your cupcakes and top them with your mini eggs.  Finally, sprinkle/press the toasted coconut onto the remaining icing, forming the nest.

{next time I'll probably pipe a small amount of icing in a circle around the mini eggs in order to build up the "nest" around them...but either way looks great!}

I also chose to make a few of these cupcakes without the coconut since I know that not everyone's a fan, and they still look cute!

 For me Easter means much more than the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs, but it's still fun to participate in a bit of the frivolity of the season!

p.s. ♥ kelsey

red, black and gold valentine's day cupcakes

Well hello there friends!  I realize that it's not a Tuesday, so you may be wondering why I'm sharing pictures of food with you.  I was actually made these cupcakes as part of a styled shoot this weekend with the very talented Sarah Nickerson (from the Nickersons), as well as Ainsley (from Ainsley's Affairs).  It was a Valentine's Day shoot with a red, black and gold theme, and featured different local vendors from around Vancouver.  The shoot was for The Refinery, and I'll be sure to share it with you all once it's published!

Until then, here are a few of my own photos, as well as a very short tutorial (probably not actually legit enough to be a tutorial...) on how to make these yourself!

First, you'll need some cupcakes!  I chose to make my mocha ones (since they're nearly black!), but you can make whatever flavour you'd like!  {maybe chocolate, vanilla, or brown sugar pound cupcakes?}

Then, I made a double batch of our basic buttercream, and used a 16mm 45-9 Kaiser icing tip to pipe the swirls.  I topped them with gold sprinkles (from Michaels)....which are totally my new favorite!

Finally, the most intensive part....the royal icing hearts!  I used approximately 1 tsp of egg white and a few tablespoons of icing sugar (until I had to count to 10 for the icing to resettle once a spoon was drawn through it...you want it pretty thick!).  I coloured the icing red, and then piped the hearts onto plastic wrap (wax paper or parchment would work better!).

*The most important part for your hearts is letting them dry 100% before you try and pick them up!  It's best to let them set for 24 hours if you can!

OR, you can just melt down some red melting wafers (you can find these at Michaels!), which might be less scary if you've never worked with royal icing.

I made a few different sizes of hearts, and used a few of the slightly larger ones on my mini cupcakes!

xoxo

p.s.  ♥ kelsey

tasty tuesday: valentine's day idea - vanilla cupcakes with raspberry whipped cream

Cupcakes, whipped cream and chocolate.  What more do you need?

Whatever your relationship status is this Valentine's Day, I can guarantee that these cupcakes will make your day better.  Pinky promise.

Vanilla Cupcakes

adapted from: Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes - foodnetwork

Ingredients:

1 cup Butter or Margarine (at room temperature)

2 cups Sugar

4 large Eggs (at room temperature)

2 3/4 cups Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

2 1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1 cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1)  In a medium bowl, cream the butter until it is smooth.

2)  Mix in the sugar until fluffy.

3)  Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.

4)  In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking powder.

5)  Add in the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk and vanilla (about 3 parts each).  Beat after each addition just until ingredients are incorporated.

6)  Spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full.

7)  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean!

Raspberry Whipped Cream:

Ingredients:

2 cups Fresh or Frozen Raspberries
1/2 cup Sugar
3 cups Whipping Cream

Instructions:
1) Puree the raspberries in a blender (our Magic Bullet worked perfectly).
2) Place a metal sieve over a small bowl and transfer raspberries over to the sieve. Use a spatula to press the pulp through, until all that is left are the seeds.
3) Add sugar, mix well and set aside.
4) In a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in your raspberry puree with a spatula, and continue to fold until colour is consistent throughout.
5) Refrigerate until ready to use.

Sometimes I have a hard time reading and following directions.  See exhibit A above.  I totally just creamed my butter, sugar and eggs together all at once....and they were fine!  I do recommend beating the mixture for several minutes to make it extra fluffy!

While your cupcakes are baking, you can start making your chocolate decorations!  I melted down a few tablespoons of chocolate chips (you really don't need too many!), transferred them to a small ziplock bag, snipped the corner, and started piping!  You'll want to make your chocolate designs on wax or parchment paper, so they'll be easy to get off.

I played around with different heart designs, sizes, and some hugs and kisses.

You can also get your raspberry whipped cream ready at this time!  It's best to make sure to whip your cream really well, because when you fold in your raspberry puree, you don't want it to be too liquid-y!

Once your cupcakes are baked and completely cooled, you're good to assemble them!  Go crazy with your chocolate designs, sprinkles, or maybe just plain whipped cream.  Whatever suits your fancy.

Using whipped cream in lieu of icing is great if you (or your friends) aren't the biggest fans of icing, and is a nice change regardless.

Keep these cupcakes in the fridge (or even freezer) before serving!  Otherwise the whipped cream will start getting a bit droopy and sad.

For the 2 cupcakes below, I poked a small notch in each cupcake with a knife, and then inserted the bottom of each chocolate heart inside.  I loved the way it added even more dimension!

I also had a little bit of raspberry puree left over, and used it as a filling.  Please do this.  It adds an incredible pop of flavor, and is a wonderful surprise for unsuspecting friends!

p.s. ♥ kelsey