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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I finally get to post! I have missed posting and have been seriously busy in Houston. Not only has our time with family been very fruitful but it also has proved to be very busy. Ever since I moved from Texas to Michigan my schedule completely changed. While living in Houston I averaged 5 hours of sleep since I belonged to the Houston Grand Opera chorus and worked in my day job. Today I went into work and remembered how horrible traffic can be. Despite that, I was able to enjoy the sunrise this morning.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
NO harm or risks were taken to take this photo. 🙂 Tonight I came home very tired but happy that I did not have to do a commute in a busy city anymore. I remembered how stressed I was before. The stress level has considerably changed and I am glad.
Another thing we have been able to take advantage of while in the city is to visit friends. When we went over to our friends home I was told that dessert was to be our dish to share with them. I quickly referred to a saved recipe I saw at Kelly’s website Vegan Thyme. She shared a beautiful creation that she veganized from Joy of Cooking that was originally called Black Bottom Cupcakes.
Since we were staying at my in-laws, I decided to enlist my sister-in-law to help me with the baking and assembly. While I worked on the graham cracker crust crumble, I proceeded to tell her how to mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients. We chose to use regular sized cupcake pans lined with cupcake liners.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
We added a tablespoon of graham cracker crumbles to the bottom of the cupcake liner and then topped with the chocolate batter. Here is my sis-in-law hard at work.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
It baked for 20 minutes and baked to perfection. Look at these beauties!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
While those cooled, we made the buttercream frosting to substitute the marshmallow portion of the original s’more concept. I did not have time to make vegan marshmellows but this frosting proved to be delicious!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
The chocolate sauce was the last step for the cupcake decoration. I used Newman’s Own Chocolate 54% because it was milk fat free and because that was all I could find. I set that aside and checked out the cupcakes after 45 minutes of cooling. Look at the cupcake!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Does that look good or what?? The bakers take a break for a picture moment.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
We let the frosting set and the chocolate rest and we start removing the cupcake liners for the assembly process.
DISCLAIMER: These cupcakes are better THE DAY AFTER! Even though we assembled this the same night we made it, we only assembled 6 cupcakes for my in-laws and fam to try. After all, who brings new recipes to a dinner party? Well, I do sometimes.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
S’mores Cupcakes
makes a dozen cupcakes
Graham cracker bottom:
1-to-1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs made from whole graham crackers
4 tablespoons melted vegan butter
1/4 cup vegan sugar
Chocolate cupcake filling:
1 cup almond milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons vegan cocoa
1 cup vegan Sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
*reserved graham crackers for sprinkling over top of cupcakes
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
White buttercream frosting:
4 tablespoons vegan butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Chocolate ganache to drizzle over top of cupcakes:
1/3 cup vegan dark chocolate chips or bar
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Use regular cupcake tins and line with cupcake papers.
Start with the graham cracker crumble. Pulse 10-12 crackers in a food processor until crumbley. Make sure you have 1 1/2 cups. Add the sugar. Melt the vegan butter, then add to crumbs and stir with a spoon. Mix well until combined.
Press about 1 tablespoons of graham cracker crumb mixture into the bottom of the cupcake tins.
Next, prep your chocolate cupcake mix. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients–beginning with flour, ending with salt.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients. Add the almond milk and apple cider vinegar in a medium bowl and let it sit for 3-5 minutes until it curdles like buttermilk. Add the rest of the wet, ending with almond extract.
Now add the wet ingredients to the dry and stirring with a spoon, fold and mix together until the batter is fairly smooth–a few dry spots will be okay–you don’t want to over mix–thus the spoon technique. Use a 1/4 measuring cup for smaller–either way, fill the cupcake holders to 1/2 full.
Bake for about 20 minutes. Insert toothpick after 20 minutes to see if a toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean or when pressed with your finger, the dough springs back. Remove from oven and allow cupcakes to cool completely for about 45 minutes.
Next, prep your frosting. Add vegan butter and about 1 cup of powdered sugar to a large bowl and mix well, then add teaspoon of vanilla extract and rest of powdered sugar–beating until the frosting is nice and creamy, but getting stiff–add more sugar and the almond milk if needed to get to desired frosting consistency. Fill a piping bag with frosting with desired piping tip for decorating.
Next, melt all ingredients for chocolate sauce or ganache in the microwave for about 30 seconds (depending upon your microwave). Let sit for 5 minutes.
Have extra graham crackers ready and cut in 1 inch squares for decorating.
Once cupcakes have completely cooled, begin the process of final frosting, topping with chocolate drizzle and ending with the graham cracker as decoration. Sprinkle crumbs over frosting. Enjoy!
Remember cupcakes TASTE BETTER the DAY AFTER! 🙂 The flavors are even and blended after an extra day.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
S’mores Cupcakes With Buttercream Frosting
