Chocolate Espresso Pots de Creme

My mother was never much of a baker. Growing up, she would occasionally mix up a batch of cookies, brownies, or cake, but that was as adventurous as she ever went. As far as my younger self was concerned, no other desserts existed. My sugary world was small and narrow and I never knew any better. That is, until now.
My first taste of cheesecake was at the ripe age of 16. Croissants at 18. Tiramisu, creme brulee, and Italian gelato (moment of silence) would wait until I was 20. You could say I'm a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to discovering proper sweets. In fact, quite a few of the recipes on this blog I made simply because I had no idea what the taste and texture was like (such as this panna cotta or this bread pudding). A woman's got to know her desserts.
These chocolate espresso pots de creme are no exception. I imagined them to be a cross between creme brulee and a chocolate pudding and they are just that. The chocolate is rich, dense, and thick and the espresso adds just the right flair to keep it interesting. If you love a good custard, look no further.

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"Please, Sir, Can I Have S'more?" Cupcakes

I entered these s'more cupcakes into the Cupcake Camp Montreal baking competition and was a finalist for Amateur Design. I spent weeks working on these cupcakes to make them just right, changing around ingredients, varying the method of the recipe, mixing up the design. Five well thought out batches later, I came up with these. The perfect flavors of a s'more in a cupcake form. And it tastes just as good as it looks. Believe me.
I often find baking can be quite the adventure. Like when you want to a make a large batch of meringue using 16 eggs and it won't stiffen because you got the teeeeniest bit of egg yolk into the whites. You thought you fished it all out with a spoon, but when you give up on your hopeless meringue after 20 minutes of beating it on high, you realized that maybe you hadn't. So the 16 egg whites go down the drain. And then, after making it right, you suddenly have 32 egg yolks sitting in your refrigerator (what on earth am I going to do with 32 egg yolks?!).
Or sometimes a squirrel steals your spatula. That happens too. Like when you set a pot of chocolate on the balcony to cool down for just a minute and a squirrel comes by, plucks up your spatula, and walks off whistling a little tune. Well, maybe not whistling, but he did look oh so smug. Even left a shiny little chocolate trail, squirrely footprints and all. I hope he realizes that spatula won't keep him warm at night.
He came back later to taunt me. He brought a nice girl squirrel over to lick up his fancy chocolate mess. I imagine this was quite the hot date. I just hope I don't have little squirrels coming back to steal more of my utensils in the spring. Spatula thief.
This s'mores cupcake features a graham cracker cupcake absolutely stuffed with a marshmallow creme, covered with a decadent dark chocolate, and topped with a toasted marshmallow meringue. All of the necessary and proper components are present (and are in the correct quantities!). The cupcake is light and, since its made of graham crackers, it tastes of graham cracker just like it should. The marshmallow filling is dense, sticky, and wonderful. I ate some of the dark chocolate straight from the bowl. And the marshmallow meringue honestly tastes like campfire marshmallows. Even if you burn it, it still tastes delicious (just try not to start a fire with these though).
Although these cupcakes are involved, they are well worth the effort and can bring campfire s'mores back into the fall season (or any season for that matter).

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Cupcake Camp Montreal 2010

I participated in Cupcake Camp Montreal this year! Cupcake Camp Montreal is a charity event, raising money through cupcake donations and those who will pay to eat them. This year's charities were Kids Help Phone and La Tablée des Chefs, both worthy causes. Almost 21,000 cupcakes were donated and thousands came to gobble them up (so much so that over 4,000 people had to wait outside in the cold to get in!). Over $31,000 was raised, making Cupcake Camp Montreal a rousing (and tasty) success!
There were crowds and crowds of people on sugar highs, so navigating through the tables of cupcakes was a challenge. Claustrophobics beware! But if you are willing to face the hoards of people, you will have one sweet, sweet reward. I couldn't get over how many cupcakes were in one place at one time. And how are you supposed to choose which to eat? Impossible! I managed to find a few to devour (after a long and thorough search for the best). Absolutely a deliciously worthwhile time.
Cupcake Camp Montreal wasn't only a giant bake sale, it was also a baking competition! I donated 50 cupcakes for the cause and entered my cupcakes into both the Amateur Taste and Amateur Design categories. The cupcakes are subjected to a preliminary round of judging by a panel of qualified cooking instructors. Those that survive the cut are then judged by a panel of celebrity judges, including the likes of Chuck Hughes, Nadia G, Ricardo Larrivée, and Patrice Demers. Guess who made the cut for design?
My cupcake is aptly named the "Please, Sir, Can I Have S'more?" and features a graham cracker cupcake stuffed with marshmallow filling, covered in dark chocolate, and topped with a toasted marshmallow meringue. Isn't that a mouthful? For now I'm just going to tease you with the photograph (but the recipe will be coming soon so you can stop your protests of outrage).
The finalists were placed on a special judging table and laid out for all to see. I was shocked to find mine among them (but oh so proud on the inside). It's right there in the middle! I even posed for a picture with it. Don't judge. You'd do the same.
The design finalists were all so gorgeous. You could tell people spent a lot of time getting them just right.
I didn't win, but I was just happy to be named among the finalists. I was also happy my friends (and fellow cupcake supporters) had counted themselves among the attendees (though I imagine it wasn't too hard to accept an invitation to an absolutely indulgent cupcake extravaganza).