I would understand. I mean, twelves days. Overdue.

Blame my Pascal Lac for this. His pâtisserie has been keeping me busy and super happy and excited for the past two weeks. I’m enjoying every second I get to spend there (and this will come in a later post), but arrive home tired and with many cake orders to deliver. October definitely is a birthday month around here.

Anyway, here are the second part of the cupcake awesomeness. Thanks for inspiring me. And for your patience.

Jennifer of Bowl of berries made breakfast vanilla cupcakes with salted caramel frosting.

Anna of Life’s too short for mediocre chocolate made lemon vanilla tea cakes.

Anne of a Foodie froggy in Paris made delicious-looking tiramisu cupcakes.

Y of Lemonpi made super*cute christmas cupcakes. Don’t you wish December was around the corner?

Sandra of Un tocco di zenzero made lemon and goat cheese cupcakes.

Caitlin of Engineer baker made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter mascarpone frosting.

Lauren of I’ll eat you made pina colada cupcakes with a tangy lime frosting!

Kittie of Kittens in th kitchen made banana cupcakes topped with chocolate goo. Yum!

Elizabeth of Red kitchenaid made grown-ups all chocolate mousse cupcakes.

Marija of Palachinka made blueberry, raspberry and blackberry cupcakes.

Ivana of My little things made adorable cupcakes fragrant with vanilla.

Katherine of Earl grey truffle found perfection as she made fig and honey cupcakes.

Isa of Isa’s cooking made white chocolate cheesecake strawberry cupcakes.

Cindy of Hungry girl por vida made coffee cupcakes topped with almond streusel.

Janet of Pretty tasty cakes made pretty pumpkin cupcakes, perfect for autumn.

Nicky Jean of Miss cupcake face made peanut butter and jelly cupcakes.

VF of Virtual frolic made a sweet come-back with Bill’s bakery chocolate cupcakes.

Alexa the Artsy foodie made lgluten-free lemon meringue cupcakes.

Joanna of Salute to sanity made cookies and cream cupcakes with strawberry marshmallow frosting.

Anita of the Dessert first made saffron and vanilla cupcakes with rose water buttercream.

Steph of A whisk and a spoon made vanilla datte cupcakes with buttermilk fudge frosting.

Elizabeth of Cake or death made black and white angel food cupcakes.

Martha of O-ink made very lovely chocolate, cinnamon and pear cupcakes.

Anna of Morsels and musings made pink grapefuit cupcakes, drenched with syrup.

Aparna of My diverse kitchen made honey and peanut cupcakes with a chocolate ganache.

Suzanna of Home gourmets made amazing saffron and cupcakes with lemon curd.

Sarah of Sarah cooks made white chocolate moccacino cupcakes, which do sound heavenly.

Cakelaw of Laws of the kitchen made pretty in pink cupcakes (me pink lovey).

Clara of I heart cuppycakes made election-friendly cupcakes for a change.

Kja of Il pranzo di babette made banana and caramel cupcakes; but also redcurrant ones!

Sheena of the Casual baker made drop-dead delicious blueberry cupcakes.

Denise of Chez us made vanilla cupcakes filled with strawberry jelly and fristed with peanut butter.

Lisa of Confessions of an apron queen made chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter frosting.

Elodie of Mon petit biscuit cuit made Oreo cupcakes. So happy Oreao are now available in France.

Ivonne the sweetest Creampuff in Venice made cinnamon cupcakes with caramel frosting.

Ariana of Maduxa made posh chocolate cupcakes with fleur de sel caramel, ganache and fresh fig.

Patricia of Recipe book made Greek cupcakes topped with honey and walnut halves.

Leticia of Food, wine and friends made the always cute chocolate cone cupcakes.

Head over Anita’s blog for November’s SHF, which is all about spices!

Answered an interview. Put some green tea recipe together for an online magazine. And then, October showed up. So did deadlines.

Can you believe I forgot about the daring bakers‘ challenge. Yes, forgot! And I do really feel sorry for that. However, I did not forgot about you guys who sent me terrific pictures and recipes for delicious and creative cupcakes. You made my day, week and even month!

So here comes the first part of it. Thirty six lovely cupcakes. Just what I need to cheer me up. I’m starting my internship tomorrow and I am downright scared.

ps. thanks to all of you who so kindly offered to send me s’mores kits. You truly rock and I’m so happy to count you as my friends. However, Allison of the best blog ever for sushi addicts like me: Sushi Day. So thank you all, and now… onto the cupcakes. Enjoy!

Denise of Chicky Egg made those terrific cupcakes, fluffly as little clouds

Nic of Cherrapeno made Banoffee cupcakes. Now, may I suggest we focus for a sec.

Ash of Butterflyfood made beautiful lemon cupcakes with strawberry frosting.

Deedee of Bricole at home finds the perfect remedy to procrastination: cupcakes!

Michael of Herbivoracious made inspiring beet and goat cheese cupcakes.

Natashya of Living in the kitchen with puppies made corn cob-like cupcakes.

Vera of Baking obsession made self-icing ricotta and plum cupcakes.

Tori of Mama baker made the cutest capital city cupcakes, aka: nanaimo bars turned into cakes.

Monica of the Sour plum made delicate rosemary chiffon cupcakes.

Vaishali of Holy cow! made vegan baking easy by putting lemony vegan cupcakes together.

Joyce of Te@mo made simple yet delicious oreo cupcakes with a twist: honey and green tea!

Mae of Rice and noodles made drop-dead gorgeous pandan cupcakes with nutella frosting.

Illyana of NYAM made fluffy chocolate pavlova cupcakes topped with fresh fruits.

Cathy of La prochaine fois made crunchy peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes: puppy chow.

Elsa of Buzz et companie made adorable pink and blue hello kitty cupcakes.

Sylvie of Amuses-bouche made crispy crackles chocolate cupcakes; love them, eat them.

Vanille of Down under made sophisticated pistachio and chocolate cupcakes.

Enza of Da grande made luscious ricotta-frosted chocolate cupcakes encased in crisp pastry.

George of Culinary travels of a domestic goddess made brownie cupcakes with Baci hearts.

Hannah of Bittersweet made stylish adzuki bean-mousse filled cupcakes.

Laurel of Corpus bon vivant made organic chocolate and marshmallow cream cupcakes.

Rita of Clumbsy cookie made genius yoghurt cupcakes served in yoghurt pots!

Rachel of Coconut & lime made chocolate and vanilla tiger cupcakes.

Candice of Mmm tasty! made chai latte cupcakes. Trust me, I’m bookmarking the recipe.

Holly of Phemomemon peanut butter banana chocolate chip cupcakes with ovaltine frosting.

Arika of Yummy life made beautiful cherry and chocolate black bottom cupcakes.

Stef of the wonderfully cupcakey blog Cupcake project made toasted ravioli cupcakes.

Brilynn of Jumbo empanadas made delicate and deliciousvanilla cupcakes. Me lovey.

Shari of Whisk made stunning cupcakes baked in clementine shells.

Annalisa of the cutest Pera cotta made to-die-for pear, cinnamon and chote chocolate cupcakes.

Aimée of Under the high chair made pink buttermilk velvet cake cupcakes.

Elga of Semi di papavero made pomegranate cupcakes con panna. Perfect for autumn!

Jasmine of Jasmine cuisine made comforting apple and spice cupcakes.

Lorraine of Not quite nigella made gorgeous Ispahan cupcakes. Not quite Nigella, quite Pierre!

Laura of Earth muffin bakes made breakfast gingerbread cupcakes with apple and raisin.

Kelly of Sass & veracity made walnut and apple cupcakes, with apple chips. So delicious!

Part deux, coming very very soon(ish). I promise!

Hey guys, I’m so sorry I haven’t been around lately. I had high intentions: from carrot cake to peanut, chocolate and salted caramel; from vanilla and chocolate crispy crackles to pineapple and coconut.

In the end, my thesis (and presentation) took much more time than what I originally had expected. But I guess, this could be my life’s motto: everything I’ve done has taken me much longer than I thought it would.

Anyway, I really do hope you who haven’t submitted your favourite classy cupcake recipe for this month’s SHF, go and make some. Then email me!
Can’t wait to share all the terrific cupcakes you made. Stay tuned, I’ll be back on monday.

PS. I’m not answering your SHF email? Well, I’m moving house right now, so don’t worry. xxx

I came across S’mores quite late in life. A Michael Recchiuti book. A tiny note at the bottom of a page.

S’mores.

A piece of chocolate and a marshmallow, sandwiched together in crisp graham crackers. After a quick moment in the oven, the chocolate and marshmallow melt into each others, making for the most delicious sweet sandwich ever.

As good as it may sound, I’ve never had the chance to taste S’mores – let alone graham crackers – in real life. And although I could have just made some myself, I simply didn’t find the time to.
But S’mores kept hauting me. Just like someone you’ve never kissed, and yet miss. A lot.

I even thought of making a S’more tart. Picture a crust of crushed homemade graham crackers, topped with a thin layer of dark ganache, and covered with a pile of fluffy Italian meringue. And then Deb did it. And it looked good.

But well, I eventually forgot about it. The tart, that is. S’mores still had their place in my dreams.

When I started thinking about all the cupcakes I could put together for this month’s SHF, you can guess what came first.

S’more cupcake. A graham cracker inspired cake – or at least a cake that tastes like graham crackers do, in my mind. A thick and smooth meringue. A deeply flavoured chocolate ganache coating.

The S’more cupcakes were born. Proving the world there is so much more than buttercream frosted cupcakes.

S’more cupcakes

With a healthy dose of chocolate and fluffy marshmallow, those delicious cupcakes will make everyone happy.

The cake is fragrant with brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla; and has that slight saltiness I suspect graham crackers have (or maybe, I just see graham crackers as English digestives).
The marshmallow cream is sweet but not overly so. I think it’d be terrific to add the seeds of one vanilla bean to it.
And well, the ganache… Deep, dark and smooth. You definitely don’t want the chocolate flavour to be overwhelming here, so aim for a thin coating.

You’ll have more gaanche than needed – but that’s only because you have to have enough to dip the cupcakes. I suggest you make plain truffles.

And don’t forget. Sugar High Friday is running until the 26th of September. So put your aprons on. Get your wooden spoon and whisk. And make cupcakes!

It all started with the crazy cool idea of making my own coconut extract. Something I had been dreaming about for years without thinking I would actually one day get rid of the horrid fake-tasting stuff my cupboard is full of (I tend to stock it every time I visit Jane Asher’s shop because it tends to disappear quite quickly).

Now it’s done. Delicious coconut extract, which also happens to make delicious vodka shots.

Trust me (however, I’m strongly against drinking while baking, dangerous things can happen in one tiny kitchen).

The next step was quite obviously the coconut cupcake. A delicate-crumbed cake, subtly flavoured with our extract, the water from the coconut itself, and some homemade coconut milk. Smooth ricotta as a frosting. And a pile of fluffy grated fresh coconut.

Of course, since I intended to serve this for breakfast, I had a light hand on the frosting; but if you’re feeling sweeter than me, please make an Italian meringue and pile it on your little cupcakes.
I hope a bite at those will encourage you to participate to September’s Sugar High Friday. Please. Pretty please.

Fresh coconut cupcakes with ricotta frosting
Adapted from Alton Brown.

I love this cake. The crumb is so fine it’s divine. It will melt in your mouth as it hits your tongue.
Of course, it will taste better if you make your own extract, however, if you don’t have the time or will, I recommend you just skip it. No fake stuff, please.

You can also turn this into a layer cake, as Alton does, but I think cupcakes work nicely here, because you get an even part of caramelised crust and soft inner, all at the same time.

Since we’re going to work with fresh coconut here, I think it’s time I share my secret about how to open a coconut when you’re a girl.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the coconut onto a folded towel set down in a large bowl. Using a screwdriver, hammer holes into the eyes of the coconut. Turn the coconut upside down over a container and drain the water from the coconut. Store the water in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Place the coconut onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until cracked. Place the pieces into a bowl of iced water and when cool enough to handle, separate the flesh from the husk. Wrap as is, or grate it; and store in the fridge.

And don’t forget. Sugar High Friday is running until the 26th of September. So put your aprons on. Get your wooden spoon and whisk. And make cupcakes!

If you’re anything like me, you probably think that cupcakes do deserve their disputable standing. I mean, just a quick look around you, and the only thing you’ll see are colourful, sprinkle-packed, prettily piped buttercream topping tasteless (or even worse, awful-tasting) cakes baked in cups.

So yes, that’s what you think.

However, if you’re anything like me, you might also have the inner feeling that you can change that. Make delicious cupcakes, baked with flair, sophistication and novelty.

And well, this is totally what I want you to do for this September edition of Sugar High Friday – aka, SHF; the terrific event created many months ago by the no-less terrific Jennifer, the Domestic Goddess.

Please, help me prove the world that cupcakes can be as tasty as they look. Prove that they aren’t dead.

I heart them. For their size; for their cuteness; for they practical-ness; for how fun they are to make. And to look at. And to eat.
Today is your chance to show that you heart them too.

Et en français? Non non, je ne vous ai pas oubliés. Voici les instructions (résumées) pour participer à Sugar High Friday.

1. Faire des cupcakes. Un seul mot d’ordre: originalité et sophistication.
2. Les prendre en photos et écrire un article.
3. M’envoyer un email avec votre nom, le nom et l’url de votre blog, un lien vers votre article SHF et une photo de votre choix d’au moins 205×205px.
4. Profiter de ces cupcakes avec les gens que vous aimez.