Last weekend while i was home visiting my mom I took some time to make a chocolate mess out of her kitchen. The first recipe that I made was Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes...These cupcakes are by far the best cupcakes that I have ever made, but then again why wouldnt they be. They pair my two favorite flavors Chocolate and Wine. I took a great merlot cupcake recipe and then had some fun with it and made it my own. The second treats i made were S'more Cake Balls, I made these for a BBQ my mom was having at work. I figured that Smore's are the signature treat of summer so why not make these for the BBQ.
Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes
Ingredients
2 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup DARK brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup cooled, strong coffee
1/2 cup Merlot
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegtable oil
*You can make buttermilk on your own instead of getting a huge thing of it and letting it go to waste. For every 1/2 cup of milk add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and you have buttermilk!
Directions
Preheat over to 375 degrees
-In a lagre bowl mix (Flour, cocoa powerder, sugars, baking soda, baking poweder & salt)
-In a medium bowl wish together (eggs, coffee, wine, buttermilk and oil)
-Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Fill cupcake liners half full and bake.
-Bake 20-25 minutes
Once the cupcakes had cooled i decided to cup out the center of the cakes and make a merlot filling to add the extra wine flavoring. This filling does not have a recipe since i just made it up as i went. I used cream cheese, wine and some powder sugar.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix Together Frost & Enjoy!!
The day that i made these i went and got a pedi cure so I took some cupcaks back to the salon i went to as a thank you for making my feet look AMAZING!!!
S'more Cake Balls
Ingredients
1 box devil's food cake mix
1 box (3.4 ounces) instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup marshmallow creme (I used a whole small container)
1 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers
1 bag (14 ounces) Light Cocoa Candy Melts
1/2 cup finely crushed graham crackers
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degree.
Spray one 13 x 9 x 2 in. sheet pan
-In large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil; MIX
-Bake 35-40 minutes for sheet pan, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
-In large bowl, use hands to crumble cake until no large chunks remain. Add marshmallow creme and coarsely crushed graham crackers; mix with large spoon until well combined.
-Form mixture into cake balls. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours.
-Melt Candy Melts according to package directions. Put cake ball on a spoon dip into the chcolate roll it around to ensure it is fully covered and then place on a cook sheet. Once on the cookie sheet sprinkle with graham crackers.
These cake balls were great. Not as good as the french toast ones but still good. I was sad that the marshmellow flavor was not more prominent. I think next time i make them I am going to hide a mini marshmellow in the center of them to make the marshmellow flavor stand out more.
I hope you all enjoy these funny chocolate treats!! Happy Summer!
