After E’s birthday party Friday night, I cleared out the kitchen, and then Saturday morning, cleared out the family, so that the baking could begin. These little ones were for a fiftieth wedding anniversary party, and seemed to be a big hit.
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Blackberry Lime Mojito Cupcakes
Chocolate Chai Spice
The majority of the recipes were from, or derived from Cupcake Bakeshop
Baking in bulk (and I mean, serious 350 cupcake bulk) can be a bit daunting, and takes a lot of pre-planning, especially with a normal size, most-certainly-not-commercial kitchen. Once the flavors were chosen I set about finding recipes to match – in some cases we knew exactly which recipe to use, in others I was looking for ideas across several themes. Recipes to be doubled were noted throughout the recipe – an easy way to make a big mistake if you stop doing the math midway. I made a master grocery list mid week, filled the cart with an extraordinary amount of unsalted butter and sugar, and set the alarm for an early Saturday morning.
The most challenging recipe of the lot were the s’mores cupcakes, but those were important because of the entire family’s history of camping and being together in the great outdoors. The cupcakes started with a graham cracker and butter crust and then the graham cracker batter was piped into all the little cups. When these things came out of the oven they were unbelievable, even with no toppings. After they cooled, marshmallow fluff was injected into the center of each cupcake, twinkie-style.
It took two tries to get the homemade marshmallows right, and even that second round required M to rescue me from the sticky mess. (He offered to help only if he was allowed to photograph me up to my elbows in sticky white strings.) They sat overnight to firm up, but even after following the directions to the letter, they were nearly impossible to remove from the foil, and took a very long time to cut apart. I think my homemade marshmallow days might be over.
Torching the little guys to make them look toasted was a lot of fun though. The intense heat also gave the chocolate ganache a really shiny appearance, and I thought they turned out really well. The recipes are pretty involved, but all would go into my repeat category. If you are interested in any of them, feel free to drop me a line in the comments and I’ll pass them along.
Last night was an early one, after a few rounds of the dishwasher and a good wipe down of all the slightly sticky surfaces in the place. I have a few leftovers to share at work today, but I think I’m done with sweets for awhile…at least for the week!
If I never see a homemade marshmellow again… it’ll be too soon. Ugh. Memories of pumpkin marshmallows…
Everything looks beautiful!
Yes, I remembered you had tackled them. The kicker was that I saw a large container of fresh made vanilla marshmallows at Whole Foods as I was headed in to pick up almond paste. I was very tempted to pick up a $6 container and skip the second attempt at making them on my own, but pride got the best of me. I was regretting said pride Sunday morning at 4am when I was trying to cut those tiny things off of the aluminum foil that they were permanently fused to…
i can’t thank you enough for all of the hard work that went into those cupcakes. they were all amazingly delicious and got rave reviews from everyone at the party. best part is that there were some leftovers that i now get to enjoy at home, if i can keep them hidden from my kids!
-hannah
You’re most welcome. Can’t think of a nicer family to do it for. Glad you enjoyed them. My office is enjoying a few leftovers as well…
I have to second what Hannah said, the cupcakes were as delicious as they were beautiful. I was originally opposed to the S’mores but they were so perfect for our family gathering. Thank you!! (and I have a WHOLE new appreciation for all that you did so again, THANK YOU!)