Tag Archives: s’mores

S’more Than Friends

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I’m having an affair.  With this cupcake.

For my final birthday month hurrah, I gathered a bunch of friends at Bar Lubitsch in WeHo (200+ types of vodkas, anyone?).  When I called to snag a table reservation, I was told that cakes aren’t allowed, but cupcakes are OK to bring.  I took that as an invitation to bake some birthday cupcakes and bring them to the bar :)

I’ve recently been on a s’mores kick, so I was dead set on making the perfect s’mores cupcake.  But after reading recipe after recipe, none were sounding a) easy enough to bang out in an hour or b) like actual cupcakes (many recipes just wanted to bake some graham cracker crumbles…).  Leave it to a fellow food blogger to come up with the perfect s’mores cupcake recipe!

There are tons of ingredients in these little cakes.  Everything barely fit on my limited counterspace:

An easy way to make graham cracker crumbs…toss some graham crackers in a plastic bag and bust out your rolling pin:

Any chance to use my beloved mixer means it’s going to be a wonderful kitchen experience :)  Here she is mixing the graham cracker batter together:

And the separated chocolate batter:

The second the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and brown sugar are mixed together, you’re hit with the sweetest, yummiest, drool-inducing smell of…well, graham crackers, butter and brown sugar.  This is what heaven must smell like:

The first layer of the cupcakes, the graham cracker batter:

Then, a layer of the graham cracker/butter mixture:

With half of a marshmallow smushed inside:

And topped off with a layer of chocolate batter:

While the cupcakes were baking, I started on the ganache.  It helps to chop up the chocolate (helps the pieces melt faster):

And the melted butter and cream poured right onto the chocolate chunks:

This is what the cupcakes look like right out of the oven (when you overfill the cupcake liners!)  Look at the delicious melted marshmallows!!

Taking a cue from the Bakerella, I added halved marshmallows on top and drizzled a generous amount of ganache over the cupcakes.

The Dishful Thinker’s tips:

  • If you’re going to spread out all of the ingredients into prep bowls like I did, make sure you split what needs to be split into 2 separate bowls.  I got a little excited to start these cupcakes, and didn’t realize that I’d be making 2 different batches of batter.
  • The cookie sheet under the cupcake pan in the oven is a genius idea.  Like Bakerella, my cupcakes overflowed and I had some spill over onto the cookie sheet.
  • These did NOT bake in 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes at 350°, the cupcakes were still a batter-ish slush, with no resemblance to an actual cake.  It took closer to 45 minutes to bake them.  Worth.  The.  Wait.
  • I also bought a jar of marshmallow creme with the intention to make a marshmallow frosting, but these cupcakes (with the drizzle of ganache) were already super rich.  I decided against the extra sweetness.  No need to put everyone at the bar in a drunken sugar coma :)

I have to say, this was my first time walking into a bar with a tupperware of cupcakes.  I expected to be going home with a few leftovers, but these were gone in seconds.  Talk about a confidence booster for an amateur baker/cook!

Yes, I did get to enjoy one of these chocolately, marshmallowy ooey gooey cupcakes.  And they were pretty much the epitome of graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow decadence.  I also had a candle in the cupcake and a very lovely “Happy Birthday” serenade :) (And sidebar,  that pineapple martini in the picture is amazing.  Tastes just like a pineapple life saver.)

Will I be making these again?  In the words of Mr. Big, “Abso-f*cking-lutely.”

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S’more Cupcakes (As posted by Bakerella)

Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup oil
6 jumbo marshmallows cut in half, plus more for decorating

Graham Cracker Crumb topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

Ganache
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda together with a wire whisk.
Separate the mixture in half into two bowls.

Stir cocoa into one bowl and the graham cracker crumbs into the other.
Add 1/2 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 cup oil to the cocoa mixture and beat on medium until combined.
Repeat adding the same ingredients to the graham cracker crumb flour mixture.

Prepare the graham cracker crumb topping.
Add the brown sugar and crumbs in a small bowl and pour on the melted butter. Stir until combined.

Pour a little graham cracker cake batter into the bottom of your baking cups and then sprinkle the topping mixture lightly on the surface.
Place a marshmallow half on top and then cover the marshmallow with the chocolate cake batter until it is about 3/4 full.
Sprinkle with more topping mixture.

Bake cupcakes for about 15 minutes. Place a cookie sheet underneath when you bake just in case. I had a little bit ooze over into the oven. Oops.

This recipe will make at least 12 cupcakes. I had a some batter from each left over so you can probably get more like 14-16.

Let cool and top with ganache.

Heat the butter and cream on the stove. Heat until just before it boils. Remove and pour over chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth.
Pour over cupcakes and add more marshmallows if you desire.

Let’s Take a Stroll Through the (Luna) Park

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It’s no surprise I like sugar.  And The Food Network.  So when The Best Thing I Ever Ate had an episode titled “Sugar Rush,” I was all over that.  Sandra Lee’s favorite sugar rush, do-it-yourself s’mores at Luna Park just happens to be a stone’s throw from my house.  Welcome to Birthday Celebrations That Revolve Around Food Post #2.

Much like my birthday lunch, my birthday dinner revolved around a dessert I just had to try.  But I also had to order food too, since this was dinner, after all.

The interior is swanky bordering bizarre, and uber dark (almost as dark as BLD at dinner).  There are a few tables along the back of the restaurant that are enclosed in draperies.  Romantic…or creepy?

There’s also some interesting art on the walls as well:

Once your eyes adjust and you settle into your seat at the Park, you get to pick a few dishes from a pretty yummy sounding menu.  I went with 2 friends, and we ordered 2 entrees, 2 appetizers and a dessert to share (I’m always in favor of sharing.  I get food ADD and get bored with my dish pretty quickly.  I like a little bit of everything!).

The first entree was a Breaded Pork Cutlet Stuffed with Mushrooms and Gruyere Cheese, Topped with an Apple Cranberry Sauce and Served with Mashed Potatoes and String Beans:

Apple cranberry sauce…on top of a piece of pork sounds a little…weird.  But it was a good weird.  Definitely a good weird.  Loved the sweet/savory combo.  The sauce was more like a grown up applesauce and somehow, someway, worked with the pork.  Although, I was a little bummed that I couldn’t find the mushrooms or gruyere cheese stuffed in the cutlet :(

The other entree was a Pan seared Mahi Mahi with Moroccan Cous Cous Salad, Hazelnuts and Grilled Bok Choy:

The mahi mahi wasn’t anything particularly exciting, but the Moroccan cous cous salad…wow.  I’m still drooling over this one.  There were pieces of (I think) arugula, spinach and possibly other greens, mixed with some tasty and buttery cous cous, dried cranberries and a surprising but DELICIOUS surprise: hazelnuts!!!  Salads with an added crunchy texture are good.  Salads with hazelnuts=my new favorite thing.

We had heard some amazing things about their mac and cheese, so we ordered a side of it:

To be quite honest, it was just…eh.  And the broccoli in it didn’t quite “go” with the rest of it.  It wasn’t as cheesy as I’d hope.  In fact, I really couldn’t taste any real cheese in there.  It was like eating plain pasta with breadcrumbs and broccoli.  But at least the breadcrumbs on top were good.

The other appetizer/side we ordered was a Warm Goat Cheese Fondue with Grilled Bread and Sliced Apples:

Since all of our food came out at once, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to eat this last, since there was a little candle below it that I thought would keep it warm.  Not so much.  The itty bitty tealight under the cheese pretty much did nothing.  The cheese, while still melted, cooled to just above room temperature.  Oops!  But the grilled bread and apples were still very tasty, and probably would have been a little more tasty if the cheese was warmer :)

Instead of sticking a candle into the s’mores, Luna Park celebrates birthdays by sticking candles into a gigantic plastic cake with an equally giant sparkler (although it had already burned through by the time we got this picture):

And for the real reason for this trip: do-it-yourself s’mores!  We didn’t even ask for a dessert menu (would you really need to, knowing that these were an option?)

The homemade graham crackers are amazing.  Totally blows the boxed stuff out of the water.  The chocolate was yummy and dark (totally prefer dark to milk when it comes to s’mores).  The marshmallows, while still hot and melted, were the epitome of gooey goodness.  Unfortunately, much like with the goat cheese fondue, the little tealights didn’t do their job, and the marshmallows stiffened up fairly quickly, and the do-it-yourself aspect turned into me scraping the sides of hardened marshmallow from the cup with a spoon.  There’s no neat way to eat this dessert.  You get chocolate all over the table, marshmallow stuck on your fingers and s’mores smeared all over your face.  Which, aside from the marshmallow situation, makes for the perfect sugar rush dessert.

BLD on Beverly BLVD

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After living just a few blocks away from BLD for the past 2 years, I finally made a stop in and had a delightful meal with an old college friend.  What they serve is in their name: breakfast, lunch and dinner (get it?).  Daniel and I caught up over a very delicious dinner.

One loop around the block with no street parking to be found, we caved and valeted.  Bonus points for $1 valet parking for restaurant patrons (most definitely beats the usual two-figure parking stands that have become staples to this lovely city).  From the outside, the restaurant looked so dark inside, it might as well have been closed down for the night.  Luckily, BLD is just conserving some energy:)

Once our eyes had adjusted, I realized my pictures weren’t going to turn out all that well.  Thanks to iPhoto, I was able to salvage 2 of 3.  The restaurant itself is thoughtfully, minimally and unpretentiously decorated.  It doesn’t try too hard.  The fellow diners as well as the staff are equally laid back and welcoming.

A few minutes (or maybe more…) of mulling over the menu, I decided to take the adventurous route off the standard menu and ordered seared duck breast from that day’s menu.  The poultry was served with forbidden black rice, sauteed green beans and hearts of palm, sweet & sour cabbage and a coconut curry sauce:

It was fantastic.  Seriously, the only thing wrong with the dish was that I misheard the waiter, and thought he said it’s served medium rare.  Turns out, it’s served medium well.  A little on the tough side for me (I like my meat oozing red), but the coconut curry sauce more than made up for the too-cooked bird.  I was scooping up every last bit of the sauce when I had finished my plate clean.

You can’t really tell much from the picture, but Daniel ordered the beef short ribs, served with horseradish mashed potatoes, roasted beets, watercress, chive crème and beef jus:

His review?  ”The beets are tender, but I’ve had better.  Rose Cafe [in Venice] has a to-die-for beet salad.”  I had a bit of his short ribs, and they were quite tasty, and were so tender, I just needed the side of my fork to cut it.  It was also my first time trying beets (I was always put off by the color…) and I can now say I’m definitely a fan.  Will have to try this “to-die-for” beet salad next time I make it over to the west side.

The finishing touch was an über rich s’mores pie, with a graham cracker crust, milk chocolate mousse served atop a generous helping of toffee sauce.  The light, fluffy texture of the mousse and marshmallow creme are incredibly deceiving.  Between the two of us, we couldn’t even get through one slice of the pie.  But it’s so good, that even when you start feeling sick from the inordinate amount of sugar, you can’t. stop. eating.

The verdict: Parking–cheap and accessible.  Reservations–easy to get a decent time.  Restaurant–lovely and not overdone.  Service–welcoming.  Fellow diners–friendly (our neighbors even offered up some suggestions:))  Food–unpretentious and most importantly, delicious.  All in all, I’m in L-O-V-E with BLD.