S'MORE CUPCAKES

For me, the epitome of summer can be said in one word. S'mores. When the weather starts warming up in mid-May, the snow is almost melted, the leaves are budding on the trees, and I can finally break out the shorts and t-shirts in my closet, the one thing I look forward to the most are s'mores.

To be honest I could do without summer. It is my least favorite season, followed closely by spring. (I'm an autumn and winter girl all the way!) The heat and humidity are the mortal enemies of my hair. The mosquitos are practically the state bird of Michigan. And don't even get me started on the allergies I experience when all that fauna starts a-bloomin. But those cool summer nights make it all worth it. My favorite memories are of family trips to the beach on Lake Michigan, building bonfires, and making s'mores under a sky full of stars. The sound of the waves as the roll onto the beach when it's too dark to see and the glow from the fire just make me feel so at home.

That was the inspiration for these cupcakes. I made them for my sister's high school graduation party. I was trying to think of something that just screamed summer and then I had a "duh" moment, and these were the result. I did some research to see how others have made s'more cupcakes and all the ones that I found had a graham cracker crust on the bottom, a chocolate cupcake and a marshmallow frosting, but I thought it would be interesting to make an actual graham cracker cupcake. I made a chocolate ganache to fill the cupcakes, to kind of make you think of melty chocolate in a s'more. And of course, toasting the top of the marshmallow frosting had to happen. I know it's October and I'm embracing all things autumn-y right now, but I just had a craving for s'mores and since I just moved away from where my family lives, I thought this would maybe help with the home-sickness I'm having right now. And you know what? It really just made me miss them more. Dang it!

S'mores Cupcakes

makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcake:
9 1/2 ounces graham crackers broken up into pieces
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs, room temperature, seperated

Ganache:
2 cups dark chocolate (or any kind you prefer really)
1 cup heavy cream

Frosting:
8 large egg whites
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cup tins and set aside.

Combine the graham crackers, flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and grind into a fine crumb. Combine the milk and vanilla in a separate container.

In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, completely incorporating after each one. You may want to scrape the bowl down with a spatula to make sure everything is mixed together. Reduce speed to low and add the flour and graham cracker mixture, alternating with the milk and vanilla mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Stop the mixer once incorporated.

In a clean bowl beat the egg whites with a whisk/whip attachment on medium-high speed until soft peaks start to form. Fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter, gently folding until completely incorporated. Gently fold the remaining egg whites into the batter until combined. You need to fold the egg whites in gently and gradually to avoid deflating them.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about two-thirds full. Baked until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and they spring back with slightly pushed, about 15 minutes. Leave cupcakes in the pans to cool completely.

Ganache:

Chop the chocolate into pieces and put into a heat proof bowl.

Heat the heavy cream in a pan until simmering. Be careful to watch the cream as it can go from a simmer to a boil in an instant, and when it boils it bubbles up and can over flow out of the pan.

Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and let sit for a couple minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Stir in slow circles using a whisk or spatula. Make sure not to stir to fast or you will add air to the ganache. We're making ganache here people, not mousse.

Once the chocolate and cream are completely combined allow the ganache to cool to room temperature. As it cools it will set into a spreadable, pipe-able heavenly goodness.

Frosting:

Combine the eggs, sugar, and cream of tartar in a pan and heat to 120 degrees F over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Once the mixture reaches temperature transfer to a clean mixing bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. You may have to let the mixture cool slightly once it reaches stiff peaks, but for me it usually cools enough from getting whipped.

Put some of the marshmallow frosting (this is also called meringue, but since it's for a s'mores cupcake I'm calling it marshmallow) in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.

To assemble:

Cut a little cone shape out of the center of each cupcake. Using a piping bag, pipe a generous amount of the ganache into the holes in the cupcakes. Then pipe the marshmallow frosting onto the cupcakes however you like. I liked making a larger surface area of the frosting for torching purposes. Finally (finally!) use a kitchen torch to toast the tops of the marshmallow frosting for a toasted s'more look and taste. Enjoy!!! These cupcakes are best eaten the day they are made, but can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.

-Morgan

CURRENTLY: MOVING TO GRAND RAPIDS, MI

Some big changes going on in my life right now. First, I got a new job as a cake decorator in a bakery. Yay! And second, I moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Double yay! The past few months of my life has been insanely weird, but looking back on it, I can see that all the door that were shut on me were just making it easier for the windows to be opened up.

Ok, cheesy analogy out of the way. Sorry about that. But seriously that is literally how my life has felt recently. In July I found out that my job was going to be ending in September (long story, but I was not fired if anyone is wondering... It just, as a whole, ended.) I figured that in October I would start looking for jobs in Grand Rapids, because that was where I really wanted to end up. In the middle of August I got a text message from a guy who owns a bakery in Grand Rapids (the one I really really really wanted to work at) asking me if I was still looking for a bakery position. Well, basically I leapt on that opportunity as quick as I could. I went down two days later for an interview, a week later for a "working" interview, and again two weeks later for another "working" interview. A lot of people told me that if they asked me back for a third interview it was probably a good sign, but to be honest, I really didn't want to get my hopes up that high. I've been burned before so I just kind of prepared myself for it. But it didn't come! Instead I was offered the job!!! A week later my job ended, and week after that I started my first day as a cake decorator!

So I know all this happened in that past, I yes I do realized that the title of the post says "currently". I say that because right now I am kind of free loading off my aunt and uncle who were kind enough to let me stay with them for the moment as I get situated here and find a second job. Unfortunately the bakery doesn't give me as many hours as I need to comfortably rent an apartment and well, feed myself. But I've got a few interviews coming up so hopefully (fingers crossed!) it won't be for too much longer. Also it will be nice to not have my allergies to their cats making itself known anymore. I've almost forgotten what it's like to breathe through my nose, and taste and smell things.

Anyway! Sorry for such a long, wordy post. I've been a little busy lately and haven't been taking as many pictures as I would have liked. Gotta get back at it! Also, it may be a little while before I post anymore recipes or food related posts. Seeing as how I don't really have access to a my own kitchen, it's slightly impossible at this moment. But soon! I can't wait!

-Morgan

A TRIP TO... MACKINAW CITY, MI

 

On Sunday, my sister and I took an impromptu road trip to one of our favorite places, Mackinaw City. We grew up going camping there every year for the 4th of July. It's a very nostalgic place for us. But for some reason, and I'm not sure if it was because the rest of our family wasn't with us or if the town just changed, but it felt different to us. Sad as it is, we got really bored really fast. :( Saaaaaad! But we just walked around anyway, snapping pictures, discovering nerd stores, (yes I meant nerd, not new) and eating ice cream at our most favorited ice cream place ever. With everything that has changed around that town, thankfully Mickey's is still the same.

On the way home we were driving through Charlevoix and we spotted this Thai/Chinese fusion restaurant and pretty simultaneously our stomachs started talking and our mouths started salivating. So of course we stopped in for a bite, and oh my goodness I'm so glad we did. It was soooo good! I had Shrimp Pad Thai and my sister had Shaking Beef. And the potstickers and egg rolls were absolute perfection. So good in fact, that we couldn't even let them cool enough to not burn our mouths before they were gone. #noregrets If you ever find yourself in Charlevoix, Michigan I highly recomend Asian Fusion.

Just north of Traverse City there's this AMAZING sunflower field that makes me pretty much die every time I see it. Sunflowers are my favorite flowers and so I decided to sneak onto the field and take some pictures. That may have been frowned upon, but it was sooo worth it. I just wish the sun was out so that they're pretty heads would have been facing up, but they're still so gorgeous!

-Morgan

MY FIRST WEDDING CAKE

 

I did it! I finally got to make my very first wedding cake! And it was so much fun!! I can't wait to do it again. :)

A huge congratulations to my best friend Olivia and her new HUSBAND, Andrew! Their ceremony was so sweet, and every little detail that was put into the day was absolutely beautiful. I was her maid of honor on top of making the wedding cake so I had a lot on my plate, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

She chose neapolitan as her cake flavor, so in both cake tiers the bottom cake layer was chocolate, the middle was vanilla, and the top layer was strawberry. And then I also made neapolitan cupcakes that were half chocolate half vanilla cakes and strawberry buttercream on top. I was inspired be these cupcakes.

Since it was my first one I learned a lot for the next time, which is actually going to be in a few short months. The words teal and ombre have been tossed around, so I guess I better start practicing my ombre techniques.

Thanks for letting me share!

-Morgan

Photos by Sarah Cusson Photography.

FRIDAY FAVORITES

It's been a while! Sorry about that, life's been kinda crazy this summer, what with being in a wedding, and making my first wedding cake ever, and then planning a second wedding for a friend who recently got engaged. My life is full of other people's romance. It's kind of depressing. But I'm happy for them :)

In other news, I got my hairs cut this week! I made a huge decision (for me at least) to cut off my long beautiful hair and go for the lob look. Fun fact: I didn't even know lob was a word before my haircut! All I knew was long hair, short hair, and pixie cut. Well, now I'm educated. Sweet!

So even though I haven't been on the blog for a while that doesn't mean I haven't been on the internet. I can't stay away. Who can? And I thought it would be fun to share some fun things I've found online with you.

1. This painted cake. It's so cute! Molly Yeh is an exquisite baker and all of her cakes are pretty much the cutest thing ever. I'm inspired.

2. I got this cocktail book the other day. I'm excited to try out some of the recipes!

3. OMG, I want, no need, these wooden measuring cups. Like right now!

4. This cake stand.

5. And this cake stand.

6. Oh, and this cake stand!

I just really love cake stands apparently. I should start a collection.

Well that was fun! Perhaps I'll do this next week. :) Until then, I'm off to keep being too busy, and hopefully I'll be able to sneak in a little time to treat myself. I've got a basket of saskatoons just waiting to be made into something delicious. Or maybe I'll go check out the local film festival. I hear they're playing The Breakfast Club on a giant blowup movie screen out by the bay. Now all I gotta do is convince someone to come with me and stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Until next time!

-Morgan

SNAPSHOTS

Hey friends! I'd thought I'd just share some photos I've been taking lately. I've noticed that I do a lot of picture taking, but then they just sit on my computer or my phone or I print them and they sit in a box. So I just thought I'd give them a new home here on my blog. Plus it makes me feel more inspired to take exceptional photos and up my photography game since now you are seeing them too.

Have a good weekend!

xo Morgan

EARL GREY CUPCAKES WITH HONEY BUTTERCREAM

These cupcakes were my second and final attempt to get them right for my friend, Olivia's bridal shower. The first attempt I made didn't turn out the way I wanted them too, so I knew I needed to find a new recipe. I love my Miette cookbook so I tried one out of there and IT WAS AMAZING!

It's my new favorite go-to recipe for cakes and cupcakes. It was super moist while still being crumbly in all the right ways. And it took on the flavor of earl grey tea beautifully!

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Honey buttercream, makes 24 standard size cupcakes
Recipe slightly adapted from Miette

For the cupcakes:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk
4 bags earl grey tea
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the milk until little bubbles start forming around the edges. Take off the heat and steep the earl grey tea in the hot milk for 15-20 minutes. You really want the tea to be strong so that the tea flavor doesn't get lost in the cupcake. If the milk starts to cool down while the tea is steeping, you can transfer it to a measuring cup and microwave it for 30 seconds, just to keep it hot.

With the milk in the saucepan, add the butter and heat until the butter is melted. Pour the milk and butter mixture into a bowl, set aside, and let cool to 80-85 degrees F, using an instant read thermometer. While the mixture is cooling, be sure to stir it once in a while, vigorously with a whisk to keep it incorporated.

In the top part of a double boiler, or in a bowl large enough to sit on a saucepan, whisk together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Fit the pan or bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in the bottom pan or a saucepan and gently warm the mixture, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the thermometer registers 110 degrees F. Pour the egg mixture through a medium- mesh sieve into the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk on high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy and has cooled to slightly above room temperature. Stop the mixer.

Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix on low until just incorporated. The batter should be smooth. Check the milk mixture to make sure it is fully cooled, then slowly pour it into the batter, whisking on low speed. Stop mixing as soon as the batter is well blended and smooth. Remove the bowl from the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl again, and fold by hand a few times with the spatula. Divide the batter between the cupcake liners. Bake the cupcakes until the tops spring back when pressed with your finger and a tester comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in pans. Clean the bowl to your stand mixer and let's make some honey buttercream!

For the frosting:
2 cups honey
5 large egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 cups (1 1/2 pounds) unsalted butter, room temperature

Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Put the honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Using a candy thermometer, heat the honey until it reaches 248 degrees F.

As soon as the honey reaches 248 degrees F, immediately pour it into a heat-proof measurer. Pour a few tablespoons into the whites, away from the whisk, so the hot syrup doesn't splash, and whisk on medium speed for a few seconds. The honey is very hot, so be careful. Pour the honey in a very thin, steady stream aiming for the side of the bowl towards the bottom, but not the whisk as it will whip it back up at you. When all of the syrup has been added raise the speed to high and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes a meringue with a stiff peak. You can check the stiffness by stopping the mixer, taking both the bowl and the whisk off and pulling the whisk straight out of the meringue. If the meringue on the end of the whisk hold its shape in a "peak" when flipped upside down with the peak pointed towards the ceiling, you know your meringue is done.

Put the bowl back on the mixer and set the speed to medium. With the mixer running, drop in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each is incorporated before adding another. The mixture may deflate and begin to look curdled, but that is ok. Keep adding the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time until it is fully incorporated. The frosting should be smooth and thick.

If the frosting still looks curdled after the butter is all added, raise the speed to high and beat the frosting until it comes back together. Do not fret, because it will come back together, I promise. You could also hold a torch to the bottom of the bowl to warm it up a little, but I've never tried this method so I don't know how well it works.

Using a piping bag fitted with a large star tip, pipe the honey buttercream on top of the cupcakes in rosettes, or however you want to decorate them, they're your cupcakes after all.

Use the buttercream immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 1 week. Or freeze for up to 2 months. To use a chilled buttercream, remove from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, about 1 hour.

These cupcakes were a hit at the bridal shower! I kept getting questions about how I got the tea and honey flavors into the cupcakes. They were like, "You can do that?" "That's a thing?" Yah, it's a thing! And now you can do it too!

If you try these cupcakes, leave me a comment down below letting me know what you thought of them? Were they too sweet? Not enough tea flavor? Too much tea flavor? What about the frosting, was it too overwhelmingly honey-y? I want to know what you thought so I can learn!

xo Morgan

TEABAG SHORTBREAD COOKIES

What is more perfect for a tea party themed bridal shower than teabag shaped cookies! I'll tell you what, nothing! They are the perfect extra touch that just makes you want to swoon.

I had been searching Pinterest for inspiration for desserts for my friend Olivia's bridal shower and I came across this pin. I thought, "that's perfect!" But when I clicked on the link, however, I discovered the site to be in a different language. I find it very frustrating sometimes to be an American, where English is practically the only language we're taught. I mean, yes I learned Spanish some in elementary school and then again in high school, and I also tried to teach myself Irish/Gaelic, but the only thing I have retained from that is "Puedo ir al baño?", which could be useful if I ever need to find a bathroom when I'm in a Spanish speaking country... Or does that mean "can I go?" Uhhh, yah, never mind, I know nothing actually. But most non-English speaking countries learn their native language as well as English, or another language. So frustrating!

Ok, I'm over it. For now. Although I plan on teaching myself French sometime. I can say "This apple is red," "La pomme est rouge." However, that's not a very useful phrase... And it's probably not right either. I try!

Aaannywaay. What does this have to do with teabag shaped cookies? Everything! Nothing, actually. I got on a rabbit trail, but we're back people! And it's great to be back! Because we are going to make cookies. Really really cute cookies.

Teabag Shortbread Cookies, makes 30 cookies (depending on how big or small you cut the shapes)
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewarts Baking Handbook (one of my favorite cookbooks ever!!)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons confectioner's sugar*
1 bar of your favorite chocolate, melted (Dark, milk, white, flavored, whatever you want! Be creative!)
bakers twine
teabag tag template (I found this one on Pinterest, but if you're creative you could always make one!)

*I know that's a weird amount, but I halved the recipe because it would make waaaaay too many cookies ;) )

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a couple sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

Whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until fluffy on medium speed, 3 to 4 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar; continue to beat until very light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add flour mixture, and beat on low speed, scraping down sides occasionally, until just incorporated. (It should have the consistency of soft cookie dough.)

Flour a clean surface of your counter and place the dough on it. Put more flour on the dough to keep it from sticking and also make sure to flour your hands and your rolling pin. Start to roll out the dough into a rectangle shape about 1/4 inch thick. If the dough starts to stick to the pin or pull up or tear, put more flour on both the dough and the rolling pin.

Once the dough is all rolled out take a ruler and use it to cut straight lines the same size as a teabag. (Or you could just do what I did and eye ball it, but you will most likely end up with teabag cookies of varying sizes...) When it comes to cutting the angles at the top of the cookie, I just laid a teabag on the cookie and cut along the lines to keep them all relatively the same shape.

Transfer the cookies onto the baking sheets with a 1/2 inch space between each one. To get the holes in the cookies use an object that has a small opening such as a pastry bag tip with a round opening. Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown, rotating the pans half way through for even baking. As soon as you pull the cookies out of the oven, take a toothpick and wiggle it around in the holes to open them up again since they probably will have closed up or almost closed up in the oven.

Cut your twine to the desired length and gently tie them to the cookies. Print off the tag template you are using and cut them out. I stapled them to the ends of the string, but you could glue them if you don't like the look of the staples showing.

Serve them with tea for friends or a party and be prepared for all the praise your going to get for being so cute and creative! (Obviously this isn't your main reason for making the cookies, but I would be lying if I said I didn't like it :) )

These cookies are best eaten the day they are made, but they can last anywhere from 3-5 days, however none of them lasted that long for me, and I doubt they will for you either. Enjoy!!!!

xo Morgan

BIRTHDAYS FOR 2 YEAR OLD'S

A couple week I got to make a birthday cake for an adorable little 2 year old boy. His parents had asked me if I could make him a Toy Story themed cake a couple months ago, and of course I said yes. Making cakes is my passion. Plus he is super cute, so how could I say no?

So I spent a good couple weeks researching different Toy Story themed birthday cakes, and coming up with ideas, and I even purchased some little toy action figures of the heroes of the movies (they double as cake toppers, and a birthday present! Bonus!) I had a pretty solid plan of attack.

Well, at the beginning of the week last week I texted the mom just to get the final details set in stone and I asked if it was still going to be a Toy Story cake, just to be sure. She texted back and said that the little boy had in fact changed his mind and wanted a Thomas the Tank Engine cake instead. After a brief moment of panic and slight frustration and scrapped all of Toy Story ideas and immediately started googling and pinteresting (Real word? Probably not. Morgan word? Most definitely) the heck out of Thomas the Tank Engine cakes. I ordered a toy Thomas train from Amazon with next day delivery and drew up a second plan of attack. And with such short notice I'm pretty pleased with the end result!

The cake recipe I used was the chocolate cupcake recipe I shared a couple days ago, I just poured the batter into a greased and floured (I used cocoa powder instead of flour since it was a chocolate cake)  9x13 inch pan. I also used the same buttercream frosting recipe, I just colored it with Wilton food coloring gel. I don't usually use food coloring, but I will when I'm specifically asked to as with this cake. I like to try to use natural food colors (hello beets!) or just plain ole white which I think is rather beautiful if I'm being honest. I love the whimsical, minimalistic quality of the decorations. They asked for no fondant, and so I gave them no fondant. I personally have mixed feeling for fondant, but that's another story.

Well there you have it. My very first Thomas the Tank Engine cake. It was a grand adventure.

xo Morgan

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

I have a confession to make. I don't actually like chocolate cake. I know, I know, I feel like I'm sinning or something. I absolutely looove chocolate. The darker the better. Chocolate ice cream? Give me all of it. But chocolate cake is not my favorite. I think it might have to do with the fact that all of the chocolate cakes I had when I was younger were box mix cakes, covered with chocolate frosting from a tub. I can feel the fuzzy sweaters on my teeth just thinking about it.

This chocolate cake has turned me though! My finger "accidentally" slipped into the batter while I was making it and the only logical way to clean it was to lick it off, and O. M. G. I was seriously tempted to just clean out the whole bowl and not even make the cupcakes... It's that good! Unfortunately that didn't really seem like the smartest idea, so I did go ahead and make the cupcakes. (Although a teeny tiny, eggless batch of chocolate cake batter? Hmmm, might just have to be something I try out some day when I'm home alone and I get a craving for chocolate cake batter. Does that ever happen to any one else? No? Just me? Dang it.)

And this frosting is amazing. I only ever use meringue based buttercream frostings, usually Swiss, but this time I tried an Italian meringue buttercream and I think it is my new favorite. I kinda want to try and make all the buttercream recipes there are and determine my absolute favorite, just so I know, you know? Maybe it's something that you would like to know to?

Anyway. Try this cake recipe. It's good. You'll like it. It's a little more complicated than a normal cake recipe. (You know, cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla, then add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in steps, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.) It's not as straight-forward, but if you pay attention to the recipe, you should do just fine.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream, makes 24 standard size cupcakes
Recipe lightly adapted from Miette cookbook

For the cake:
1 1/2 cup All-Purpose flour
1 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 oz dark chocolate of your liking (65-70%), coarsely chopped
1 cup boiling water
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cup (15 oz) sugar
cupcake liners

The first thing I do when I know I'm making a cake or frosting is to set out the eggs and butter I will be using as soon as I get up in the morning. It allows the eggs to do their thing while I do my thing, and it's one less thing I have to remember to do. It's a win-win!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your cupcake pans with the liners.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl by pouring the boiling water over it, whisking until the chocolate is melted. Allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes. To speed up this process you can place the bowl in the refrigerator.

In a separate bowl or large measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, which the eggs on high speed until foamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly pour in the oil, whisking until combined, about 30 seconds. Raise the speed to medium and whisk until fully incorporated, about another 30 seconds.

Reduce the speed to low and slowly pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Slowly pour in the buttermilk and vanilla mixture. Add the sugar and whisk until the batter is smooth and liquid. Stop the mixer at this point.

Remove the bowl and add the sifted dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. I did this by hand, using a whisk, folding the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix only until just incorporated, the mixture will look lumpy still.

Pour the batter through a mesh sieve  into a large bowl to remove the lumps. Use a spatula to press against the solids to push as much batter through as possible. You should be able to push everything through, but if you have any lumps left over, just discard them, they may be bits of salt or baking soda that didn't get incorporated all the way and you don't want anyone to end up biting down on that.

Divide the batter between the cupcake liners, filling each one two-thirds full with batter. Bake until the tops spring back and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool completely in the pan.

For the frosting:
2 cups (14 oz) sugar
1/3 cup water
5 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 cups (1 1/2 pounds) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and the water. Using a candy or deep frying thermometer, cook the mixture until it reaches 248 degrees F. This took me about 20 minutes, but you need to keep an eye on it. The mixture reached 228 degrees rather quickly, but the last 20 degrees went by very slowly, but trust me, you need to keep an eye on this.

As soon as the sugar syrup reaches 248 degrees F, immediately pour it into a heat-proof measurer. Pour a few tablespoons into the whites, away from the whisk, so the hot syrup doesn't splash, and whisk on medium speed for a few seconds. The syrup is very hot, so be careful. Pour the syrup in a very thin, steady stream aiming for the side of the bowl towards the bottom, but not the whisk as it will whip it back up at you. When all of the syrup has been added raise the speed to high and continue to whisk until the mixture become a meringue with a stiff peak. You can check the stiffness by stopping the mixer, taking both the bowl and the whisk off and pulling the whisk straight out of the meringue. If the meringue on the end of the whisk hold its shape in a "peak" when flipped upside down with the peak pointed towards the ceiling, you know your meringue is done.

Put the bowl back on the mixer and set the speed to medium. With the mixer running, drop in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each is incorporated before adding another. The mixture may deflate and begin to look curdled, but that is ok. Keep adding the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time until it is fully incorporated. The frosting should be smooth and thick. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

If the frosting still looks curdled after the butter is all added, raise the speed to high and beat the frosting until it comes back together. Do not fret, because it will come back together, I promise. You could also hold a torch to the bottom of the bowl to warm it up a little, but I've never tried this method so I don't know how well it works.

Put the buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe beautiful mounds of frosting on each cupcake. You're a baker!

Use the buttercream immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 1 week. Or freeze for up to 2 months. To use a chilled buttercream, remove from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, about 1 hour.

If you love chocolate cupcakes, try these. If you don't love chocolate cupcakes (like me!) you too should try these. They may convert you!

xo Morgan

23 BEFORE 24

Guys, I'm going to be a little selfish today and make this one all about me. Don't worry, it won't be too long, I promise. :) But I just wanted to make a special post (or any post really, I haven't been keeping to a very strict schedule after all...) because today is my birthday!

I have been on this lovely planet for 23 years now. I have done a lot of things in that time, a lot of fun things for sure (went to the Cayman Islands with some friends after graduating high school), a lot of important things (for me at least, like graduating college with a degree in something I love), yes. But I feel like a lot of the things that have happened to me or I have done in my life are things that have just happened, or they've been planned out. This year I think I want to be a little bit more spontaneous. Not like go on a cross-country road trip on the spur of the moment, though that would be tons of fun. But I want to create more memories this year. Do more things that have an impact on my life, those things where I'm in the moment and I can stop for a second and just know that this is going to be something that I will always remember. I love those moments, and I want to create more of them. That probably means that I will have to start saying "yes" more than I say "no". There are reasons for my saying no, but every once in a while it couldn't hurt to be sleep deprived, right? I mean, I'm 23, and that's what 23 year old bodies are meant to handle, yah? Haha, well we shall see.

I'm making myself a list of things that I would like to do or accomplish during this new year of life. 23 things I want to do before I turn 24. Seems feasible. I can do this!

We'll see how I did a year from now! :)

xo Morgan

CUPCAKE TEST RUN

I have the priviledge of being the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding this June. They have been engaged since May of 2013, so it feels like it's been a long time coming, and everyone is so excited around here! I'm throwing her a bridal shower in a month and I'm also making cupcakes for it (as well as making her wedding cake, but you'll have to wait till June for that). I've tossed around a couple of ideas in my head for what flavor I should make, or if I should make two different flavors, or merge both flavors into one cupcake. Decisions! I think I've decided on just one flavor to cut down on stress before the shower, seeing as how I will also have to figure out how to safely transport them 300 miles to Indiana, but let's not worry about that now. What we do need to worry about now is which flavor to make...

And the winner is... (cue drumroll)...

...actually I'm not going to show you the winner. I'll save that till after her party (just in case she happens to be reading my blog right now... Hi Olivia!) but I can show you the loser, how's that?

And the loser is... (again cue the drumroll)...

Lavender, Honey, Earl Grey cupcakes with Earl Grey Buttercream frosting.

I think the idea of these cupcakes were amazing. I mean lavender, honey, and earl grey? That sounds pretty much like heaven to me. Unfortunately the recipe I used didn't have the "cupcake" texture I was looking for. It felt more like a muffin. A yummy muffin, but still a muffin. Also, the earl grey buttercream frosting. A super delicious concept, but with as much tea as I added, the flavor never got to the point that I wanted it to.

I'm definitely going to be trying the concept again, but with some different recipes, or maybe I'll just have to come up with my own. But until then I'm not going to be putting the recipe for these bad boys on here until I'm happy with them. So you'll just have to enjoy the pretty pictures. Wish me luck next time!

xo Morgan

WELCOME!

Welcome to my blog, The Wooden Spoon! I'm so glad you're here. I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a very long time. Now, I've finally taken the plunge and done it!

The Wooden Spoon is a food blog, first and foremost. I'm an avid baker, who sometimes likes to cook, and I always make a mess. I graduated from culinary school in May of 2014 and since then I have done absolutely nothing with my degree. Well, that's not quite true. I did make a birthday cake for a friend's one year old son (I used my cake decorating skills!). But other than that my life has revolved around my families business and trying to save up enough money to move out on my own. I currently hold two jobs, and while I can't see myself staying with either of them for the long term, they are sufficient for the time being.

And all of this has led up to the starting of my blog. I'm a baker at heart. It's in my bones. I have a pent up energy inside of me from all of this time not being in the kitchen. If I don't get it out I'm pretty sure I'll explode. And so, my blog. A creative outlet. A reason to get back in the kitchen and make things. To keep practicing, learning new things, and sharing it here on The Wooden Spoon.

Speaking of wooden spoons, you know it's funny, but I have never, in my entire life, owned a wooden spoon. But I have always loved them. When I hear "wooden spoon" I instantly think of making delicious food, creating new things, and having fun doing it. When I think of "spoon" I think of a tool used to shovel food into my mouth. Obviously there is not so much of a difference between the shapes, but the purposes are very different. That's why I chose the name The Wooden Spoon, because I hope that it brings up images, and maybe even memories, of whipping up yummy treats and sharing them with loved ones.

And I hope that's what this blog will be. A place where you can come and find delicious recipes with easy to understand directions and beautiful photos to reference. Perhaps you'll even learn something new!

In the mean time, I'm going to go and get me my first wooden spoon. ;)

xo Morgan

(The image for this post was from a cake I made for my mom's birthday a few months ago. The recipe will most definitely be showing up on the blog sometime, so stay tuned!)