Ba Ba Black Sheep, have you any cake, marshmallows…wait what?

Wait a second that’s not how the rhyme goes! Well any excuse to eat a cupcake, right? And a chocolate cupcake, covered in marshmallows…girllllllll you better give me one right now!

So what inspired this? Pinterest of course! That paried with a serious craving for moist chocolatey cupcakes.

I followed a standard chocolate cake (my favorite is Ina Garten’s) recipe and filled about 24 cupcake liners 2/3 full. I opted to use regular paper liners because it’s all I had on hand. While the cakes were cooking I whipped up a simple vanilla buttercream and assembled the sheep-heads. Okay so that sounds horribly cannibalistic… but no – you can rest assured, these were made of tootsie rolls and candy eyes. Next, top each frosted cupcake by carefully lining mini-marshmallows. I can’t lie, after a while I got impatient and was tempted to dunk the frosted cupcakes into the big bowl of marshmallows to save time. But trust me taking the time to place them individually really makes a difference. Lastly, make room for the tootsie-head, or just pop off a few marshmallows (and eat them, woops – sorry diet) and ta-da!

Follow the steps below to make your own! I’d love to see you guys give these a go! Baaaaaaaa 🙂

 

 

 

COOKIE COOKIE NOM NOM NOM

We all grew up watching Big Bird, Elmo and Ernie on Sesame Street as kids. My favorite character was the cookie monster – with his bright blue muppet fuzz, wonky eyes and love for chocolate chip cookies – how could I resist? We both  LOVE cookies! I decided to make a few cake pops in the theme of the cookie monster NOM NOM NOM. I’ve always found cake pops to be far more difficult to make than cakes, cupcakes or just candy because they require a lot of patience. I tried photographing as much of it as a I could – but had to work extremely fast because the candy melts dry ever-so quickly. I decided to take the pops off the stick and place them in shiny blue candy cups to compliment the candy color – but you could very well keep them on the sticks.

You want to begin by making a standard yellow cake, in this case I used a box mix just to make my life slightly easier – shhh don’t tell anyone! I would recommend using butter instead of oil when making cake pops because the oil in the cake tends to ooze out of the candy shell once the cake pops dry otherwise – so avoid oil, and feel free to use butter or applesauce instead. Once the cake is baked, crumble it and mix in three tablespoons of your favorite butter cream frosting. I used a cream cheese butter cream. Once you mix it up, you need to incorporate the cake and frosting to make a very dense pastry dough type consistency. Make one inch balls out of the cake and refrigerate for at least an hour. Once the balls have chilled, cut out small mouth shapes in the center of each cake pop to make the cookie monster mouth, then return to the fridge for another hour or so.

Once the balls are chilled, you are ready to make the candy coating! I used Wilton candy melts in blue.  The trick to getting the candy melts to the perfect consistency, is to add in one table spoon of shortening or oil to the candy melts before microwaving. Remember to microwave in 30 second intervals, and stir in-between to avoid the candy from seizing. The candy coating is in the perfect consistency when it falls back in a ribbon like fashion. I placed each cake ball on a lollipop stick and quickly dipped it into the candy coating mixture and shook off any excess. Before it dried (in a ridiculously speedy 10 second window) I attached a pair of candy eyes and sprinkled on some blue sanding sugar to resemble the fuzz. Last but not least, I placed a single cookie wafer (cookie crisp cereal was the perfect size) into his mouth – to make him go ga ga for cookies!

They looked adorable and tasted fantastic. I hope you guys will give these a go!

Rubbery Ducky You’re the One

I recently whipped up these cupcakes for a friend’s baby shower. The cupcakes had a rich fudge chocolate chip cake with whipped vanilla butter cream frosting topped with sugar pearls and a fondant rubber ducky. I used this recipe, and was told the cake was extremely moist and delicious! I chose to use deep white baking cups as opposed to traditional cupcake liners, to resemble a bath tub.

I began with the cooled cupcake. Iced the buttercream using a ziploc baggie with a corner cut out, nothing fancy here! I then topped it with  sugar pearls to resemble the bubbles in the tub. And lastly topped it off with the handmade rubber ducky. The instructions to make the rubber ducky are below – it was quite simple!

Begin by coloring the majority of your fondant a deep yellow, and part of it orange for the beak. Roll a ball about the size of a nickel and a smaller one the size of a pea. I flattened a large portion of the orange fondant using a rolling pin and cut out small triangles using a knife. I stacked the smaller ball on top of the larger one, added the beak and lastly the sprinkles for the eyes. I used just a few drops of water to hold it altogether.

And voila, there you have it! My friends couldn’t believe the entire cupcake was edible.I hope you guys give these a try and let me know how they turned out 🙂 And in the mean time, here’s a little number to get your morning going…

A wise cookie once said: A Lifetime of Happiness Lies Ahead of You

I have 11 minutes to spare until the clock strikes midnight, but I’m here and determined to make my daily posts a reality! After a busy day, I decided to wind down at dinner with my family and close relatives. It’s always fun to catch up over a scrumptious meal! We decided on PF Changs. Now, I must say I’m not a huge fan – but tonight was definitely worth indulging.

I love authentic chinese food, therefore the Americanized menu at PF Changs raised a few eyebrows. I ordered the Singapore noodles, it was delicious – a perfectly spiced curry sauce tossed in with vermicelli noodles with shrimp and chicken. We indulged in the Banana Spring Rolls served with fresh berries and coconut ice cream. It was a smashing night!

Now, I know the 300 million dollar Powerball is tonight….don’t play my numbers guys! :p

Hoorah for Prince George!

I’m sure you’ve heard, unless you’ve been living under some giant ton of a rock, Prince William and Kate welcomed precious prince George into the world on Monday. So in ode of the new born Prince (it all sounds so proper) I thought I’d share my photos from my trip when we visited Buckingham Palace!

Much like the rest of the trip, it rained on this particular day too – but that wasn’t going to stop us from paying a visit to her royal highness! I was enamoured by the intricate detailing on all the fences, signs and metalwork surrounding Buckingham Palace. The flag was flying high and mighty on display atop the Palace, a sure sign the Queen herself was home that very day.

We spent the rest of the day touring the area and stopped by Trafalgar Square to snap a few photos with those famous lions. We then hopped on the tube to shop at Harrod’s; London and possibly the world’s most exquisite shopping experience. We picked out a few affordable goodies that weren’t going to break the bank, before treating ourselves to some afternoon high tea in the opulent Tea Room. We decided to share a pot of Chai tea and a three tiered platter with fancy pastries, fresh baked scones with clotted cream and jam and a lovely selection of finger sandwiches.

Since returning home, I’ve gone through my little jars and tins of treats that in those infamous green Harrod’s bags. I’ll always remember that fun filled day, it was fit for a Queen!

S’mores Cupcakes

Summer time, calls for backyard parties…and well that naturally call’s for s’mores. I’ve been on a s’mores bend lately, making them every chance that I get. There’s just something about the gooey toasty marshmallow slammed between two graham crackers smothered with chocolate.

I was thinking about the different ways to use those three magical ingredients, and that’s when I thought DING DING DING S’mores cupcakes! I used this recipe but made a few changes. I baked a layer of graham cracker crumbs into each cupcake liner before filling them with chocolate cake batter. Once they were baked and cooled, I “frosted” them with homemade marshmallow fluff. The fluff was very easy to make, I can proudly say I will never resort to the jarred stuff again! Since I didn’t have a kitchen torch, I placed the cupcakes into the broiler to get the toasted effect. I lastly topped them with a graham cracker and a small square of chocolate. Try it out, let me know how it goes! Next up in my s’mores mission….milkshakes. 

Ice Ice Baby

London IceBar has to be one of my favorite parts of the trip – ok, ok I say that a lot don’t I…well one of my favorite night’s of the trip, there that’s better! :p You set foot into what looks like a regular restaurant, where you’re given an icelandic eskimo cape in tact with a fur hood and arctic gloves. Before you know it, you”re escorted away into a double sided elevator that opens up into a real life igloo! Everything is ice. Everything from the tables, to the drinking “glasses”, the walls (with bottles of vodka embedded into them, what a waste – I hope they defrost to get those out) and random sculptures.

We headed to the bar where we ordered from the intergalactic cosmic menu – I got a fruity spiked strawberry and guava puree concoction – needless to say, it was delicious! The drinks were served in a block of ice, carefully carved out to keep my drink icy cold 😉 We mixed and we mingled, danced to the vibrant music in the arctic ambiance. Before we knew it, the 30 minute session was over – all in good time because I think I might have turned into an icicle if I’d stayed in that 0 degree Celsius icelandic wonderland for any longer!

Here I am rocking my cosmic artic cape, or trying to at least!

An ice carved table, holding up our ice glasses. We had to be careful they were slipping all over the place!

London Bridge and French Macaroons Anyone?

So about a week from today, I will be leaving for a trip of a lifetime with a dear friend to London and Paris. Many of you may not know this, but I was actually born in the suburbs of London and moved to the US when I was about eleven. I remember rainy, cold mornings hopping on a local double decker to get to school in the mornings. Local fish & chip shops and bakeries boasting cornish pasties, around every corner. And occasional drives through the city, where my dad would point out the famous London Bridge or Big Ben through the car windows. I also remember frequent day trips to Paris on the ferry (cruise-like ships crossing the English Channel) where we’d spend the day roaming the famous sights of France and stocking up on delectable treats.

I’ve been so blessed to have parents that have taken me to several countries around the world to experience so many beautiful cultures and breathtaking landmarks. However, this “euro-trip” we have yet to name – will be my first big girl vacation financed by yours truly, which makes it that much more special to me. As of right now, our itinerary includes a few days in inner London, Bath, Stonehenge, Oxford and last but not least Paris. I cannot wait to submerge myself in the history, food and nightlife that each of these cities has to offer! And of course, I will be blogging and perhaps even vlogging for most of my trip 🙂 If any of you have recommendations for my trip please leave me comments, I’d love to take any suggestions on things to do!

Hearty Stew

Comfort food. Mac n’cheese, pizza, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, but I choose stew. Lamb stew is one of my favorite go to comfort food recipes. It’s just so thick and hearty, it warms up every little morsel of your tummy. And the best part is, soaking up whatever is left over with a thick slice of sourdough bread. I recently picked up some fresh New Zealand lamb and decided what better way to prepare it than in a good old stew. I followed this recipe, but threw in all the hearty veggies I had on hand – and it turned out fabulous!

Coffee Cupcakes and Chit Chat

Anytime I choose to indulge in a beverage at Starbucks – it’s always a frappacino. Never has a blended concoction of ice and coffee with a twirl of whipped cream ever tasted so good. Provoked by another attack of the afternoon sweet tooth I decided to whip up a batch of homemade cupcakes. I couldn’t decide on what flavor to go with, when I opened up my fridge to dig for some inspiration I came across a bottle of caramel sauce and whipped cream. And ta-da, my caramel frappacino cupcakes were born!

The secret to getting that robust coffee flavor – is two shots of expresso in your standard vanilla cupcake recipe. I used a regular morning roast – but use any flavor you like.

After baking the cupcakes, I waited for them to cool. Always wait, no matter how hard it is! I warn you now – this will be the longest 30 minutes of your life. But it’s important because otherwise, your frosting will just melt right off. I piped the vanilla frosting using a star tip to get that Starbucks look. Finished it with a caramel drizzle and inserted snippets of the infamous green Starbucks straw. Enjoy that coffee buzz.

And as for chit chat – I recently caught up with my dearest bestfriend Amanda (love you) and have come to find she’s joined the blogosphere with her awesome roommate Franny! I’d love for you guys to take a peek at their blog: http://www.apartment5c.com. I can’t wait to see what’s to come ladies!