Posts Under She Bakes! Category
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I love s’mores. In fact, it must be a hereditary thing – my mom, dad, and sister all love them too.
Or it’s because they’re just so damn good. I mean, ooey, gooey, marshmallows with a toasted brown top and melty chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers? Oh my god, yum.
Either way, when I polled my friends to get cupcake suggestions for our New Years’ party (I’m the “cupcake lady”, it’s pretty much expected I show up to parties with cupcakes – I suspect I’d be sent home if I ever came without them ;) a number of them suggested s’more cupcakes.
Okay, I said, sounds interesting!
And delicious.
Interestingly delicious.
Afterall, how can taking someting like a s’more and turning it into a cupcake be a bad idea? I started thinking about it. Graham cracker crust, chocolate marshmallow cake, and marshmallow icing – sounds delish.
And they were.
I’m not always one to toot my own horn, but OH MY GOD they were so. good. And I think the fact that the 20 s’more cupcakes I brought to the party were eaten in under 30 minutes is a testament to that.
So of course, I have to (and was even asked to!) share the recipe.
There’s three parts to it – the graham cracker crust, the actual cupcake, and the marshmallow icing.
The best part is, it’s a fairly simple recipe to make.
Recipe: S’more Cupcakes
Graham Cracker Crust // 10 minutes at 325° // makes 21 crusts
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1.5 cup graham crumbs
- 1/3 cup melted butter
Mix the sugar and graham crumbs in a bowl, then melt the butter in the microwave (or on the stove!) and add it to the dry mix.
Stir until totally combined.
Next, spoon a heaping tablespoon of the mixture into the cupcake pan (I managed to fill 21), and press it down into the bottom so it’s firm.
I didn’t use cupcake wrappers to bake these in, but you probably could if you really wanted to.
Oh, and I used a shot glass to pack in the crumb mix, which worked pretty well.
Once they’re pressed into cup form, use your fingers to press the crumbs into the edges of the pan.
Pop them into the oven at 325° for ~10 minutes, until they are a little more solid (and a little less crumbly). I heard they’re supposed to be “golden brown” but honestly, I couldn’t see a difference… so about 10 minutes seemed to work for me.
Let them cool completely before filling them.
S’more Cupcakes // 20 minutes at 350° // makes 21 cupcakes with crusts
- The graham cracker crusts from the above step
- Your favourite chocolate cake recipe
- Large marshmallows
I don’t have a “favourite” chocolate cake recipe yet (typically I try new ones most times when I bake – so if you have one you love, let me know! ;) so use whichever recipe you love for the cupcakes. And, I have to be honest – I was lazy and just went with a box mix for these (thanks Betty Crocker!), but they turned out awesome anyway… so you can even go with a box mix if you’re lazy like me.
Spoon a bit of the batter into each graham cracker crust, and then place a large marshmallow into each cup.
Use the remainder of the batter to cover the marshmallows and fill the cups.
Pop them into the oven for ~20 minutes at 350°. Most of the marshmallow will melt away into the cupcake (which makes them really tasty, PS), but some will float all melted to the top and crust over in golden brown toasted marshmallow goodness.
To remove, I used a knife to “carve” the edges of the cupcake out of the pan and then gently lifted them out. Flipping the pan (like I did with the first one) only got one cupcake out, and made a MESS with the graham crumbs. Carving them out worked much better – they will stick a little more than usual at the top because of the marshmallow stickyness, so be gentle to avoid ripping the cupcake.
Set them aside to cool, and prep your marshmallow icing.
Buttercream & Marshmallow Icing // makes 3.5 (ish) cups
- 1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
- 3 tbsp water (then to thin out to “medium” consistency, I added 3 tsp and 1 tbsp of water after mixing)
- 4 cups icing sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder
- 2 jars of marshmallow fluff (approximately 1 3/4 cups) OR 1 jar and 1 cup (this last one was what I used)
The above recipe is the modified version of the Wilton Butercream Icing recipe I use for decorator icing, only I’ve removed the flavouring and replaced it with a ton of marshmallow fluff instead. I used the second marshmallow part – 1 jar of fluff and 1 cup (ish) of melted marshmallows, but this was largely because I decided I needed more fluff in the recipe (since it didn’t taste enough like marshmallows, and, uh, marshmallow icing should TASTE like marshmallows!) and the stores were closed by this point… so I improvised.
I’d recommend using 2 jars of fluff (approximatly 2 cups), because the melted marshmallow was very challenging to mix into the icing and had small chunks of crystalized marshmallow/icing that kept getting stuck in the icing tip – but it TASTED great. Not overpoweringly marshmallow, but you could tell a hint of the flavour was there.
I actually might even try modifying this recipe to have more marshmallow fluff next time – I’m thinking an equal amount of fluff and icing sugar, so 3/4 cup shortening, 2 1/4 tbsp water, 3 cups icing sugar, 3/4 tbsp meringue powder, and 3 cups of marshmallow fluff (so I really need to find a place that sells larger jars!) to make it even more marshmallow flavoured.
Finally, after icing the cupcakes, I cut a bunch of the large marshmallows in half and dipped one end into melted chocolate and let them harden (in the fridge to speed it up).
Then stuck them into the icing for decoration. Simple, right? But cute!
The final product:
Look pretty good, right?
The combination of chocolate, marshmallows, and the graham cracker crust really made them s’more like.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I did – I’ll be making them again, and likely soon.
Part of Sweets For a Saturday #51 & Sweet Treat Thursday .
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I recently baked for my very first wedding – 100 cupcakes and a bride’s cake (for cutting) to be exact – scary, I know.
My friend Vikki’s sister was getting married, and in the summer she asked me to make a World of Warcraft themed cake for the engagement party.

"Cake cutting", taken by the ever-talented Laura Dittmann
It was a huge hit: simple flavours (chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing) but some WOW themed decorations, including a giant purple skeleton guy (it was an action figure) – sorry WOW lovers, I forget the guys name.
Anyway, while at the engagement party (I also played photographer), her mom mentioned something about wedding cupcakes to me. I thought nothing of it, until at the end of the event, Vikki approaches me and goes “Oh, by the way — you’re doing the wedding cupcakes too!”.
Of course, I was flattered they thought I was that good – but also terrified. I’d already agreed to do wedding cupcakes for my childhood friend (who is getting married next summer), but like – that was a WHOLE YEAR away. Lots of time to panic, relax, panic, and relax before it had to be done.
Alyson and Josh were getting married on October 29, and it was almost SEPTEMBER.
Insert panic attack.
The next month or so was filled with me fretting over the number of cupcakes to bake (how many do you need for 140 guests when there’s also desert and a chocolate fountain?), flavours (the bride eventually settled on the same chocolate recipe I used for the engagement cake, and red velvet), and most importantly… what they should look like!
In the end, it took me (and my “team” of helpers who pitched in here and there – thanks mom and boyfriend! ;) approximately 15 hours across three days to do them all.
I had the foresight to bake some of the cupcakes (namely the red velvet cupcakes, since they’re so time consuming!) a few days in advance and freeze them (thank god), which really helped with the “OH MY GOD I HAVE TO ICE HOW MANY” freak out I had at 7pm on Friday night when I got home from work.
The Boy ever-so-wonderfully was forced into took on the daunting task of making seven batches of Wilton decorator icing.
Yeah, seven. That’s 21 cups of buttercream icing. Made with 84 cups of icing sugar and 7 cups of shortening, as well as other assorted things (like meringue power and vanilla flavour). That’s a LOT of stuff.
I’m glad he likes me.
I discovered he is also WAY BETTER at mixing the buttercream icing than me – it was sooo creamy, perfectly fluffy, and easy to work with… I told him he could be IcingMaker!(TM) from now on, though he didn’t seem to love that idea.

Icing disaster!
He also makes a bigger mess than me, though, so maybe it’s for the best ;)
After much baking, cursing, baking, cursing, and dropping a freshly iced, perfect cupcake on the floor top-down (my dog narrowly missed on mowing down on the mess of chocolate crumbs and icing – I’m just too quick for her ;) – I finally finished them all.
All 105 of them.

All the cupcakes in all their glory.
That’s a lot of wedding cupcakes! They actually only ordered 100 cupcakes, but I had 5 “just in case” extras:
just in case… I drop one when setting up
just in case… a few get unfix-ably damaged en route
just in case… I get hungry on the way to the reception hall
You get the idea.
Now that the cupcakes were finished, it was time for the daunting task of tackling the bride’s cake – a small, 6″ round cake that was strictly for the purpose of cutting for pictures.
It took forEVER to bake (like, probably almost 2 hours) because I made it super thick (instead of doing two layers, since I only had one 6″ round pan – and it was TALL)
I piped a ton of spirals, swirls, and dots in white overtop of the white icing (I’ve never used fondant to cover a cake – just cupcakes – and wasn’t about to experiment on this one! It’s on my list to play with it before my next wedding in August 2012!). I also added some roses, green leaves, and silver balls as an accent.
Phew.
It was a lot of work, icing the cake – it didn’t help that I seriously smudged part of my icing design at one point and I had to scrape it all off, re-ice/touch up the side, and then repipe the designs – and by this point, it was like 3 a.m. and I was TIRED. And my hand was, like, all iced out from the wedding cupcakes.
But, in the end I got it all done – and they looked awesome (if I do say so myself ;)
According to my friend, aka sister of the bride — they were also a huge “hit” at the wedding – literally.

Smush! Photo by the ever-talented Laura Dittmann
And, of course, I took a bazillion more photos – my favourite of which are here:
Congrats Alyson & Josh!
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I made these cuties for a May 2-4 barbeque my friend was having last week. They’re surprisingly simple to make, and were a HUGE hit at the party.
Simply put a bunch of flat-bottomed cones in a brownie (or meatloaf!) pan, and pour the batter directly in – filling them up until about 3/4 of the way. Pop them in the oven, and bake at 325 degrees (a little cooler than normal cupcakes so the cones don’t burn) for almost double the amount of time your recipe calls for. Because there’s so much icing, and the way it fills the cones they take much longer to bake (but it’s worth it!). They’re also totally delicious, as the cone gets soft and tastes AMAZING with the cupcake batter. The drips of batter down the side make them look like they’re melting a touch – yum!
Ice them any way you want – I used a 1M tip to do a traditional cupcake swirl, which makes it look like a soft serve cone; than covered with sprinkles. I wanted to use Peanut M&Ms to make “cherries” on top, but forgot to pick some up at the store. Oh well – next time.
Hamburger Cupcakes
These guys are tricker than the ice cream cones – but still super easy! Start off by filling your cupcake pan with vanilla cake batter. You need to fill an equal number of cupcake holes to the number of “burgers” you want (I made 8) to make your “buns”. Next, mix some cocoa into the vanilla batter to make a chocolate batter, and fill 1/2 the number of holes with the chocolate batter (so I filled 4) – these will be your “patties”
Bake them as you normally would.
Once they’re finished, let them cool and then unwrap all the cupcakes and place them to the side. Carefully slice your “buns” in half, and put them to the side. Next, slice the top of your “patties” off, and cut the bottom part of the cupcake in half. Put a bit of icing onto the bottom bun, and stick the patty on.
Continue doing this until all your burger buns have patties.
Next time I do these, I plan to pipe the “lettuce” onto the bottom of the burger instead of hiding a dollop of icing – so you
could do that instead. I used the leaf-tip and wiggled it around while piping to get the lettuce effect.
Next, use red and yellow icing to pipe circles on top of the patties for your condiments. Close the burger, and use your finger to spread a tiny bit of water on top of the “top bun” than sprinkle with sesame seeds (the water helps them stick).
Volia!
BBQ burger and Ice Cream Cone cupcakes.
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No, I’m not thinking about Twitter right now – I’m thinking about spring, baby birds, pretty blue Robin eggs… and most importantly, cupcakes. Lots, and lots of cupcakes.
36 to be exact.
Yeah, there’s two types of cupcakes there – chocolate and vanilla. My sister and I couldn’t agree on the flavour (she likes vanilla better than chocolate, sometimes I wonder if it’s possible we’re not actually related); so we made both. That’s 19 chocolate and 19 vanilla cupcakes (does anyone ever get 24 out of a box mix like the back claims?). Except my sister and dad “taste tested” so only 36 got decorated.
There’s no special recipe for these cupcakes (we may or may not have cheated by using a box mix); but they were so cute I just had to share. Don’t worry, I taste tested the batter by making sure the bowl was good and ready for the dishwasher.
Both are iced with vanilla buttercream icing: the ones with the eggs-in-a-nest are a chocolate buttercream “nest” with jelly beans (those big speckled ones that are everywhere at Easter) for the eggs; and the ones with the birds are coated with toasted coconut for the nest. The birds are upside-down mini eggs. I used black icing dye and a toothpick for the eyes, and piped the beaks on using a small round tip.
Aren’t they cute?

They tasted pretty good too. The toasted coconut mixed with the buttercream icing was ah-MAZE-ing! Even the boy loved them, and he HATES coconut. He ate more than one of the vanilla coconut one. My sister and mom liked the vanilla coconut ones best too. I was (of course) partial to the chocolate ones.
We made quite the disaster in the kitchen. I’m a messy baker, what can I say?

That wasn’t even half of it… I’d already picked up a bit! Plus, you can’t see the crazy mess on the counter. Like when the icing poofed everywhere while my sister was making it.
We were chatting away, and Kait covers and turns on the electric mixer (we cover the mixer with a dish towel to try and contain some of the dry ingredients)
Kait: I’m so awesome, look it’s not even making a mess with the icing sugar!
Me: Are you sure it’s turned on? The mixer sounds really quiet.
Kait: Yeah, it’s on!
She checks the settings. A moment passes.
Kait: The bowl isn’t really turning…
She peaks under the towel, there’s a long pause, followed by hysterical laughter. She whips the towel off the top of the mixer.
Kait: I FORGOT TO PUT THE BEATERS IN!
HA! Hilarious. So she gets them from the sink, snaps them in, and starts the mixer.
Icing sugar poofs EVERYWHERE (including all over the floor, sorry mom!)
Kait: There, that’s better.
Yup, I might be the only blonde in the family in terms of hair colour; but it’s nice to know I’m not the only one with a blonde brain!
Although, in fairness, I introduced my sister to “Lauren’s four steps to making cupcakes the RIGHT way”.
That might have had something to do with the blonde moment:

And per usual (I’m camera happy, what can I say?) I took a bunch more photos (displayed below), so be sure to check them out! :)
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In case you don’t know what it is, and Irish Car Bomb is a half-pint of Guinness, and a shot that’s half Baileys and half Jameson (or some other combination of Irish Cream and Irish Whiskey). You then drop the shot glass into the pint, and chug. The point is to do so before it curdles – gross, right? You’d think so, but I actually loved them.
Emphasis on the past tense, as I haven’t tried to drink one in a couple years now for fear of PTSD flashbacks to my college days. THAT’S how much I loved them.
Ahem.
Moving on, these cupcakes were a more adult (and still tasty!) version of the drink.
Guinness chocolate cupcakes, filled with chocolate Jameson ganache, and topped with Baileys buttercream icing – and the perfect treat to drag along on St. Patrick’s Day.
I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but have reproduced it here with my own variations and notes :)
- 1 cup Guinness
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup sour cream
Simmer the beer and butter, than add the cocoa and stir until it’s smooth. Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, and set aside for a few minutes. Mix the eggs and sour cream with an electric mixer, than add the beer/cocoa concoction to it and mix just until it’s combined. Add the dry ingredient mix and, well, mix!
Bake at 350°F for 15 – 17 minutes
Jameson Ganache
- 8 oz chocolate (**I used bittersweet baker’s chocolate, which was a dumb idea as it tasted like crap – but dumping in roughly a cup of sugar fixed that. I recommend not being lazy and going to a store other than Bulk Barn to get the good stuff :)
- 2/3 cup cream
- 2 tbsp butter or margarine
- 3 tsp Irish Whiskey (**Next time, I’m going to try 4 tsp as the whiskey flavor wasn’t quite strong enough for my liking; the chocolate taste was too overpowering)
Chop the chocolate, put in a bowl. Put the cream in a pot and heat it up until it simmers. Dump the cream into the bowl with the chocolate, and stir until it’s a melted and smooth. Add the butter and Jameson, and mix. Let it cool down until it’s fairly thick – I tossed it in the fridge for about 25 minutes and that did the trick.
Using a spoon, apple corer, or some other utensil you think will work, scoop a hole in the center of the cupcakes once they’re cool. Eat center bits to ensure cupcake’s tastiness. Fill a decorator bag (or ziplock) with the ganache, snip the tip, and pipe into the cupcake holes.
Baileys Icing
- 4 cups icing sugar
- 1/2 butter (room temperature)
- 4 tbsp Baileys
Whip the butter, than add the icing sugar. I’d suggest pouring a little at a time, than mixing, than a little more, etc… apparently it makes the icing better (though I’m not sure I see the evidence!) but most importantly it keeps you (and your kitchen) from getting covered in icing sugar. TRUST me on this one. Add the Baileys and mix.
Ta Da!
Now ice them, eat them, and enjoy. I topped mine with shamrock sprinkles and a three-leaf clover made out of green melting chocolate.
I thought they were quite tasty – though very rich, sometimes I found it difficult to finish an entire cupcake and I’m a chocoholic. I know they were delicious though, because my Dad rarely eats cupcakes when we bake them – and he ate THREE. In a day and a half.






























































