A few weeks ago, Jess and I were tasked with preparing some food for our friend Kit’s birthday. She’s getting pretty old and was probably thinking something like ovaltine, tapioca, and melba toast, but we had something a bit cooler in mind. I mean, after all, us whipper snappers like our food with a bit more flair!
Since we pretty much rock the block when it comes to cupcakes we thought that we’d do it up right this time. What better way to kick start spring than with s’mores. I mean, nothing says spring and fun and awesome and money like graham crackers, dark chocolate, marshmallows, and fire. We scoured around for just the right recipes and set off to make the perfect cupcake.
At the base was a traditional graham cracker crust (crushed crackers, sugar, butter baked to a golden brown). We topped that off with a light yet rich dark chocolate cupcake. Then to really sell these as s’mores, we made our own marshmallow fluff. Now it is possible to buy this stuff, but why do that when you can make it, I mean… home made is always better any way. So we made our own fluff, then piped it on top of the cupcakes. One thing was missing…fire. The thing that makes a s’more a s’more is the melty chocolate and burned marshmallow dripping all over your hands and pants as you try to cram the whole thing in your mouth. So we got us a dandy kitchen torch and toasted them suckers right up.
The result was a perfect chocolaty, creamy, crunchy cupcake that captured the essence of all things s’mores. They looked as good as they tasted and they were a hit. In conjunction with the cupcakes we made some pinwheels (3 varieties: Greek, American, Italian), some candied sweet and spicy mixed nuts, ultimate guacamole, cheesy sausage dip, and a buffalo chicken dip. Everything turned out exactly as we anticipated.
The icing on the cake, if you will, was that during the process of all the cooking, Jess and I (mainly Jess), got the hankering to start up our very own catering business. We’ve not ironed out the details yet, but we have the idea and drive to really get it started. For now it’s just a notion that’s floating around in our heads. We’ve got a ton of prep to do and will need to get some research done before we really get started. In the mean time, we’ll do small events, parties for friends, etc.
So that’s that. A great weekend filled with s’mores cupcakes, friends, and amazing ideas of a catering business that I know will be a success.
Recipe will be posted once we get a better handle on the catering thing.
