Nothing says summertime better than making s’mores over a campfire! Or in my case, a bonfire at the beach. Or in Dylan’s backyard.

Just a few weeks ago my family BBQed hotdogs and toasted s’mores on the beach. Dylan was toasting our mallows to melty perfection!




So I decided to take my love of all things ooey gooey chocolate marshmallowy (if that makes sense) and turn it into a cupcake!!


These cupcakes have 4 steps to them; graham cracker base, chocolate cupcake, dark chocolate ganache filling, & marshmallow frosting. A little bit time consuming, but well worth it once finished!


First we start with the Graham Cracker Base;

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together graham cracker crumbs and sugar in bowl. Melt butter, add and stir until mixture resembles wet sand.
2. Press 1 tablespoon into each cupcake liner, bake 5-7 minutes. Cool before adding cupcake batter.


You’ll need graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter.




Melt your butter, and mix it with the crumbs and sugar.




Fill each cupcake liner with about a tablespoon of the crumb mixture.





This step is important, firmly pressing down the crumb mixture. I used the top of a can of nonstick spray, fit perfectly inside the liners!




Should look like this before going in the oven to bake about 5-7 minutes. (Don’t mind my dirty, well-loved cupcake pans)




While those bake….time for the chocolate cupcake batter!


I used a 1/2 recipe of my usual hollicakes chocolate cupcake recipe.


Chocolate Cupcakes
-made about 20 cupcakes

1/2 heaping cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once halfway through. Cool.

The dry ingredients.




Look how cute they are once baked! I couldn’t resist I had to unwrap one to see =]





While your cupcakes cool, make your Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling!

1/2 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter

1. Bring heavy cream and butter to a simmer, then pour over chocolate. Stir until smooth. Cool in refrigerator 1 hour before use.


This ganache recipe is super easy, takes only a few minutes to make!




The trick is waiting an hour for it to firm up and look like this! Much easier to pipe, trust me!




Fill a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Insert into top of cupcakes and squeeze! I filled each one of approximately 4-5 seconds, or until I saw the cupcake start to expand from the filling.





The final step…..Homemade Marshmallow Frosting!


Marshmallow Frosting
- makes enough to frost about 20 cupcakes

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup + 1/4 cup cold water
1 cup sugar

1. In a mixing bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup water to soften, set aside.
2. Boil sugar and 1/4 cup water in saucepan over medium-high heat, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush to make sure sugar crystals do not form. Attach candy thermometer to side of pan, and boil syrup until temperature reaches soft ball stage, about 238 degrees.
3. Remove from heat, add sugar to softened gelatin and whisk by hand to cool for about a minute. Then whisk with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until glossy, but not dry peaks form, about 8-10 minutes. Use immediately, frosting will stiffen.





Dylan caught a shot of me frosting! Sometimes I wish I had a third hand so I could frost and take pictures at the same time!




Look at that shiney, beautiful mallow frosting!




Now the most fun part, torching the marshmallow! Careful not to light the paper liners on fire….I may have a couple times. Oops! =]




Yum! I love the way toasted mallow smells.




Dylan made me a cute little collage of cupcake torching! Love it.




A cupcake sunset by the fire.













Hope you enjoy these fun summer cupcakes!

Be sure to have some s’mores at your next BBQ =]



<3hollicakes

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You guys wondering how I made those cute little patriotic jello shots in my last post?

Well you’re in luck, cause I’m about to tell you how =]

Its easier than it looks, all you need is jello, booze and some patience!

First, you need some sort of disposable cups. I used 1oz. plastic cups found at Smart & Final. I’m sure you could also find something similar at Costco or any party supply store.

What you’ll need;

50 1oz plastic cups, or 25 2oz cups

Red & Blue layers:
3oz box of red Jello
3oz box of blue Jello
2 cups vodka ( I used Smirnoff Raspberry)
2 cups water

White layer:
2/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup milk (I used fat free)
2/3 cup vanilla vodka (I used Absolut Vanilla)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons Knox powdered gelatin
1 1/2 tablespoons water


Directions:

1. Blue layer; Heat 1 cup water, add blue Jello mix, stir until dissolved. Add 1 cup vodka, stir. NOTE; this recipe is pretty strong. If you want less intense jello shots I would go with 1 1/4 cups water to 3/4 cups vodka. I wouldn’t make them any stronger though, because the gelatin in the jello needs the water to set the alcohol. Not enough water, and they might not set.

2. Distribute evenly into 50 1oz cups, filling only 1/3 full, then refrigerate until set, about 1-2 hours.

3. Next is the white layer; this is the most difficult part of these tricolor shots! Place powdered gelatin and water in small bowl, let soak for 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to “bloom”. In a medium saucepan, heat cream, milk, sugar and vanilla extract to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add gelatin and stir to dissolve. Add vanilla vodka. Let cool 10-15 minutes before topping blue layer.

4. Once blue layer is set and the white mixture has cooled, pour an equal amount of the white mixture on top of the blue. You’re almost there!

5. Finally the red layer; it is the same exact thing as the blue. Heat 1 cup water, add red Jello mix, stir until dissolved. Add 1 cup vodka, stir. Cool 5-10 minutes.

6. Once the white layer has set, and red mixture cooled, fill the cups the rest of the way until full. Refrigerate until set, about 1-2 hours.

7. Enjoy some patriotic jello shots!! =] Garnish with mini flags on toothpicks. Looks super cute, plus using the toothpick to release the jello from the sides of the plastic cup makes it come out easily without breaking apart.


Plastic cups, vanilla vodka and powdered gelatin.




Mixing up the red layer!!




Blue and white layers set, ready for red!




Finished!! Serve on a party platter with mini American flags =]




You can see here I skimped on the white a little bit. If you get them as close to even as you can, you should have the perfect amount for 50 shots!





Everyone have fun and be safe this 4th of July!

Don’t drink too many jello shots =]


<3hollicakes


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Once again, I seemed to disappear lately! Where has hollicakes been?

On a 2 week road trip to Arkansas with my mom and grandma!




Had a blast seeing the country and family! (my cousin KynLey, future hollicakes assistant!!)





Once I returned home, back to work I went, where Brooke and I have been deep in creating jello shots for the hotel pool!










And other fun treats for summer-vacationing families at the hotel!





Garden themed cupcakes for a combined Mother’s/Father’s Day Party! Love these.








Some patriotic cupcakes!








And cupcakes for a friend’s sister’s bridal shower!










….with Dylan by my side =]





So I would definitely say that I’ve been in the kitchen a ton, but just not in an organized, “blog-able”, picture taking fashion. I am so sorry about that!

Hopefully I’ll have some free time soon to post some fun new summertime recipes for ya =]

Thanks for visiting and I’ll be back soon, I promise!!


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