S'more Cupcakes

My family and I recently went camping and of course we had to have s'mores. (Yes, I am one those crazy women that loves to camp.) So I thought why not make s'more cupcakes. They look yummy and it was a great excuse to try the little butane blow torch (so cool).

I am all about easy, so I mixed together a chocolate box cake and poured it onto a graham cracker base in the bottom of the cupcake wrapper. I then sprinkled the top of the batter with more graham crackers and a few chocolate chips(you can't have too much chocolate). I then baked them according to the box mix. While they are cooling I made a marshmallow frosting.

So here are the pros and cons- I thought the icing was OK, but I don't think I made it right because it was only suppose to take 7 minutes to make but it took me over 20. It also taste more like meringue than marshmallow. Maybe next time I will top them with homemade marshmallows or maybe put some marshmallows in the batter. I also was not a big fan of the graham crackers at the bottom of the cupcake. I did this because I have read about other smore cupcakes lacking in the graham cracker flavor. Maybe next time I will just put more graham crackers on top of the batter.
Having said all that, they still tasted yummy and I loved getting to used the mini blow torch. Now what else can I make with the blow torch??????

Graham Cracker Base
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp melted butter


Marshmallow Frosting
2 cups white sugar
3 egg whites
2 tbsp light corn syrup
3 tbsp cold water
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

Combine all in a stainless steel bowl and set on top of a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly (electric beaters would've been great here, but old fashioned elbow grease will do just fine!) until mixture is glossy and holds a stiff peak when whisk is lifted.

Cupcakes and Candy

I was recently asked to make the refreshments for a church youth activity. And as you can see I went for color! The colors actually represented something.
White- Faith
Yellow- Good Works
Orange- Choice and Accountability
Green- Knowledge
Red- Individual Worth
Blue- Divine Nature
Gold- Virtue
Purple- Integrity
I was able to find candy in all my colors. But I wasn't able to make Gold cupcakes, but it still turned out very cute.
By the way, I made 3 kinds of cupcakes; Chocolate, Vanilla and Red Velvet. They were all frosted with Butter Creme frosting.

Brrrrrr, Baby it's cold outside!

Here in the Tampa Bay area, we are setting new records for all time low temperatures for the month of January. The temperatures are currently in the 20's and my yard is looking pathetic! Yes, I know, I know, temperatures in the twenties are nothing for some of you, but for a 5th generation Floridian, it is like being in the Arctic! Not to mention many of my plants don't know what hit them.
I am really not very fond of this time of year because most of my plants have been burned or killed by the cold temperatures. Just a few months ago when I looked out at my yard it was lush and green and now it looks like a neglected waste land. Sadly enough we still have a few more months of this cold weather. I hope we don't have to many more of these drastic drops in temperature, I don't know how much more my plants can take and frost blankets only go so far.
As horrible as my yard looks now I know that everything is not as bad as it seems. Many of my plants will just lose their leaves, while others will die back to the ground and return in the spring, and the rest will probably die and go to plant heaven. So for now all I can do is wait for spring and hope that my plants are tough enough to endure this crazy weather.

By the way the pictures above are before and after pictures of the same areas. Soooo sad!