S’mores Cupcakes
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I absolutely adore s’mores. They bring back memories of high school bonfires, with crackles of fire dancing up into the night sky, and carefree summer days. So this past week when my Chief Culinary Consultant’s mom said she bought graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate bars and marshmallows for s’mores one night, I was totally excited. Even though the boys initially said that “only girls and little kids get excited about s’mores” they definitely went back for seconds and thirds and admitted that s’mores were better than they remembered. See, s’mores are fun for everyone! Ha! So when thinking about what I wanted to bake up this week, I immediately decided that it had to be something s’mores-related. Enter these cupcakes. Which taste pretty much exactly like s’mores.
The cupcake batter smelled like a big ol’ pile of graham crackers once it was mixed up. Who would have thought that graham cracker smell could be intoxicating? It totally was.
Cool the cupcakes, then top them with chocolate ganache and a big heaping pile of marshmallow frosting. If you have a kitchen torch, bust it out and toast up the marshmallow frosting. Mmmm… It’s amazing how much these really taste like traditional s’mores – the graham cupcakes are spot on and you definitely can’t mess up chocolate and marshmallow 
So whether you grab a stick and some marshmallows over a fire or bake up these beauties, I hope you get to enjoy s’mores at least once this summer!
S'mores Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1-1/3 cups graham flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
10 ounces (1¼ cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups light brown sugar
¼ cup honey
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extractFor the Chocolate Ganache Glaze:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy creamFor the Marshmallow Frosting:
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (1 tablespoon)
1/3 cup plus ¼ cup cold water
1 cup granulated sugarDirections:
1. Bake the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter, brown sugar and honey until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium; beat in the eggs and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
3. Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a thin knife inserted in the centers comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored up to 1 day at room temperature, or frozen up to 1 month.
4. Make the Chocolate Ganache Glaze: Place the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl and microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds, or until the chocolate softens and starts to melt. Bring the cream to a full boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over chocolate. Working with a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.
5. Make the Marshmallow Frosting: In a mixing bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water. Allow the gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes.
6. Heat the remaining ¼ cup water and the sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan. Boil the syrup until the temperature reaches the soft-ball stage (238 degrees F). Remove from heat; add the syrup to the softened gelatin. Whisk the mixture by hand to cool, about 1 minute, then use an electric mixer to whisk on medium-high speed until soft, glossy (but not dry) peaks form, 8 to 10 minutes. (The frosting must be used immediately because it will harden.)
7. Assemble the Cupcakes: Spoon 2 teaspoon of the chocolate ganache glaze onto each cupcake. Fill a pastry bag with a large plain tip with marshmallow frosting; pipe frosting onto each cupcake, swirling the tip and releasing as you pull up to form a peak. Hold a small kitchen torch 3 to 4 inches from the surface of the frosting, and wave it back and forth until the frosting is lightly browned all over. Serve immediately.
(Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)
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I love this! I tried to make a different version of these using a recipe I found online, but they didn’t turn out nearly as good as these look. I can’t wait to try them your way- your creations never let me down!
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I can’t wait to try these. They look soooo delicious!
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Could you possibly suggest a substitute for Graham flour please? We can’t get it in the UK
Would wholemeal flour work?
Thanks!
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To Becka, I live in Ireland and we can’t get this here either, however, I did find this info online from Wikipedia:
Graham flour is not available in all countries. A fully correct substitute for it would be a mix of white flour, wheat bran, and wheat germ in the ratio found in whole wheat. Wheat comprises approximately 83% endosperm, 14.5% bran, and 2.5% germ by mass.[5] For sifted all-purpose white flour, wheat bran, and wheat germ having densities of 125, 50, and 80 grams/cup, respectively, one cup of graham flour is approximately equivalent to 84 g (~2/3 cup) white flour, 15 g (slightly less than 1/3 cup) wheat bran, and 2.5 g (1.5 teaspoons) wheat germ.
Plain whole wheat flour can also be used as a substitute in recipes, but the resulting baked goods’ textures will differ from that of examples where graham flour was used.
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Anne on July 13th, 2011 at 6:14 am
To Rosanna,
Thanks. I live in the Netherlands and I have been wondering what to use instead of graham flour as well. Those cupcakes have following me around the room ever since I opened my mail this morning. Can’t wait to try them.
Thanks!
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What a lovely idea! These look worryingly addictive, and really do capture the yumminess of a smore. Gorgeous recipe and stupidly tempting photos!
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What a wonderful summer dessert!! I love the idea of using graham flour and I can’t wait to try this marshmallow frosting! I might try some tiny chocolate chips in mine too! Thanks, Chris
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Sorry Rosanne, I just noticed I misspelled your name.
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These look unbelievable! I’ve never seen a graham cracker flavored cupcake before!
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mm! I’m going to make these tonight!
Thanks for your wonderful recipes
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Ummm yes please!! Awesome recipe.
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perfection in a cupcake!
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My son and his crew team would devour these. I might make them to take to the race this weekend. Thanks for posting
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Yumm! I love that these have a graham cracker crust! Most of the one’s I’ve seen have a chocolate base, but I think this seems more like an actual s’more!
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Gorgeous! I tried making s’mores cupcakes once and the frosting was a giant fail!
I can’t wait to try yours.
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I have not yet braved s’mores cupcake making, but perhaps I will have to now! These look perfect.
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Wonderful looking cupcakes! Make me want to stick one on the end of a whittled down tree branch and slowly savor each delicious bite.
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i made s’mores cupcakes a few weeks ago for a party, except instead of spreading the ganache overtop, i cut out the centre of the cupcakes and filled them with it. YUM. everyone freaks out over s’mores in any form!
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Michelle on July 13th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
I was thinking that a chocolate filling would be delicious too! Great minds think alike
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Yum!! The frosting looks so irrisistable!
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Very pretty cupcakes!
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I’ve made these before, they look even more like smores if you take a kitchen torch and singe the icing a little bit!
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These look so delicious. My mother often made graham cracker cake when we were growing up. I have never been able to duplicate it and have it be moist like here. Was this a moist cake? It always strikes me funny how often I try to duplicate tastes from my childhood.
Thanks.
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Michelle on July 13th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Hi Marcia, Yes, moist but not fluffy.
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Oh yum! On my summer bucket list is to make lots of s’mores inspired desserts! I made some s’mores cookie bars recently that were pretty delicious too! Here is the link: http://sherrilynnpuz.blogspot.com/2011/07/smores-cookie-bars.html
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The cupcakes alone look sooo good! What is graham flour though…?!
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Michelle on July 13th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Jess, graham flour is, well, graham flour
I have found it in grocery stores that have a display of Bob’s Red Mill products (that’s the brand I bought) – either in the baking aisle, cereal/oatmeal aisle, or if there is an organic/natural products section, there too.
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mmmmm these look like the perfect picnic dessert, especially when there’s a fire ban !
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Those look incredible
I looooove the marshmallow frosting, so pretty!
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I made some very similar cupcakes several months ago but the marshmallow topping was from a jar and it was a total beast to get out of the jar and then pipe onto the cupcakes. I had not considered making my own marshmallow topping but now will; these look beautiful. Although must admit, I will torch the topping…for me s’mores HAVE to have that burned sugar taste!
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I loove those cupcakes!! They look just pretty and with that chocolate on top i couldn’t resist!!
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Gorgeous! I love s’mores everything. Beautiful cupcakes!!
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Oh my. I definitely need to make these! What camera do you use? Your pictures are beautiful!
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Michelle on July 13th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Aw, thank you! I use a Canon T2i with a 50mm 1.8 lens
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Your photos are gorgeous!! I want to take a bite!
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I just made some s’mores cupcakes recently and they were fabulous! Yours are gorgeous and look delicious! I like the idea of making a graham cupcake. Mine were a chocolate cupcake on top of a graham cracker crust and then i just used marshmallow fluff as the frosting…
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more smores, sweet upon sweet
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I need one of these right now!!
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You must try these! I made Smores Cups for July 4th and they were a big hit. I used chocolate chips and added one more graham cracker. Also I popped them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes after topping with marshmallow. Here’s the recipe – http://two-who-wander.blogspot.com/2010/06/any-season-smores.html
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Terri on July 13th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
I made these for the 4th of July cookout but used a whole marshmalllow (turned sideways) so there would be more surface to dip in the melted Hershey Bar. Sprinkled them with red white and blue nonpareils and served them on a flag platter – so easy and cute.
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You were the first blogs I ever visited and you are still making me come back every time! love your pictures and recipes!
So creative!
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Ya know, normally I’m not a fan of anything graham. But…ahem… these could change my mind. They look yummy! Buzzed and will be trying these
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I have been wanting to make s’mores muffins for a while, and this just changed my mind. I will now be making s’mores cupcakes! These look incredible – thanks for the great recipes…as always.
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You can’t go wrong with anything s’mores! And these look wonderful!
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Oh these sound delicious! there is just something about S’mores that everyone loves!
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I have never tried s’mores before. I didn’t grow up in a like camping type family so this I have only heard about. I think I will try these cupcakes. They look amazing!
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These make my mouth water!!!
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Delicious! I’d like s’more!
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Oh wow! Could these look any tastier, seriously, they look heavenly. Great photo!
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It was the chocolate oozing out from under the frosting that got me. Irresistible.
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Looks delish! I dont think graham flour is available here in Brisbane though. What can i substitute for it?
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These sound great! Especially the graham cupcakes – those alone have me sold =)
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Wow, I’ve seen a lot of recipes for s’mores inspired baked goods lately, but these cupcakes are by far the prettiest. If they taste half as good as they look, then I’ll have to try them soon! Thanks for sharing them with us!
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I don’t even know what to say. Those cupcakes have rendered me speechless. I guess I know what I’m doing today. Thanks for sharing!
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I’ve never heard of graham flour before but it sounds wonderful! These cupcakes are the perfect summer treat!!
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Woah- those look so good!!!!
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You definately have me craving smores now!
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So what made you decide on the frosting rather than a seven minute? I’ve been making s’mores cupcakes, but I’m not sold on the seven minute, maybe I should switch to this one!
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These s’mores looks so good even on screen! Wish I could pick it off and try some now
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This is an interesting idea. I’ve never heard of graham crack flour though only crumbs.
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Wow….anything s’mores and I’ll eat it even if it’s s’more steak (someone please invent it…hahaha).
Seriously, I can practically smell those cupcakes through my monitor. Looks delicious!
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Bookmarked! WOW! S’mores fan
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Very clever adaption! Thanks for sharing.
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These are awesome, Michelle! What a fun treat these would be for a kid’s birthday party.
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These sound amazing… Love it!
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These look awesome! I would even consider putting the ganache in the center, like the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes (http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/03/14/irish-car-bomb-cupcakes/).
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Hi Michelle,
I have a question, how do leftovers turn out (should there actually be any) with that type of frosting? I’m worried that storing them in the fridge could turn the marshmallow frosting into cement. Any thoughts??
Thanks!
Kristin
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Michelle on August 6th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
Hi Kristin, I would not store these in the refrigerator. I would leave them at room temperature, but after a day or so the frosting will be a little gummy. They really are best served the same day you frost them (and the sooner the better).
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Kristin on August 8th, 2011 at 10:24 am
Ok, that’s kinda what I figured. Thanks for getting back to me!
Kristin
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I really want to make these for the office pot luck, thus securing my position as Office Hero, but I can’t for the life of me find graham flour in Winnipeg, Canada. I’m trying to avoid having to buy wheat germ and wheat bran; any idea how it would work and/or taste if I used all-purpose flour and added some graham crumbs to the batter?
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Michelle on August 13th, 2011 at 11:34 am
Hi Sarah, I really can’t speak to the AP flour/graham crumbs substitution since I haven’t used it, but you could always order graham flour from King Arthur Flour: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/king-arthur-whole-wheat-pastry-flour-/-graham-flour-3-lb (it ships to Canada!
)
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I tried to make this. But I had to make the graham flour substitution. I found the cake too sweet, and too dense (maybe because it wasnt the already made graham flour). I also used fluff (to avoid having to make my own marshmallow, and it was too runny. I made a big mess! But overall I thought it was ok. I just have to re-do it and find out where I went wrong!
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i have a feeling these are going to be amazing – cannot wait to try them in the upcoming weekends! yummy!!
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Hi! I really want to make these cupcakes for my son’s 3rd birthday. I need to make them a day ahead as we will be driving an hour to the party location that morning. I am worried about the marshmallow frosting staying soft and fluffy. Can i make the icing and frost the night before? Do they need refrigeration overnight? Thank you so much!!
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Michelle on September 29th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Hi Kristin, Unfortunately due to the nature of the frosting, they really won’t hold up overnight. I mean, technically they’d be okay to eat, but the consistency will be totally gone – they’ll be a little stiff and gummy (I know this because I ate leftovers!). Almost none of my recipes require cupcake frosting to be served immediately, but this is an exception.
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I really appreciate your feedback! Perhaps I can just make the frosting the morning of, assuming it should do good for a few hours. Thanks again for the info and for being an inspiration!
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Michelle on September 29th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
You’re welcome Kristin! Doing them the morning of should work just fine. Enjoy!
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These things would be the death of me. I mean that in the most endearing way possible; of course it would be because I ate too many!
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I recently found out about Duncan Hines Frosting Creations. I normally don’t care for packaged frosting, but their chocolate marshmallow would be really good with this graham cupcake, I think. Also wondering if you could make your own plain frosting and add a pouch of their flavoring to it. Then you could go with all butter and natural ingredients.
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Michelle on October 30th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Hi Lissa, I’ve never used these frosting creations or flavoring pouches, so I’m not sure how that would work. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
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For those of you who don’t want to make their own marshmallow….there IS a substitute. I am making this post “anonymously” because I own a small cupcake bakery and last time I shared my “secrets” online, my competitors stole them… I guess flattery really IS the best compliment.
I noticed that when making Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting….if you halt the frosting recipe halfway, the result can be piped onto cupcakes and “toasted” in the oven for a beautiful finished look that tastes like marshmallow! It’s basically just a simple meringue….
Recipe:
2 cups granulated white sugar
1/2 cup water
6oz. egg whites (about 6 egg whites)
splash of vanilla extract if desired, or marshmallow flavoring if you have it. (I generally use neither, to be honest…but they are good with as well.)
1. Pour the sugar and water into a saucepan and heat med-high until the soft ball stage, approx. 240 degrees.
It’s VERY sticky too, so heads up.
2. While waiting for sugar to reach temperature, whip/beat egg whites in your stand mixer on high until stiff peaks form, approx. 5 minutes. If started after you’ve put your sugar mixture on the stove, they’re generally ready about the same time.
3. With mixer on high, slowly pour in the boiled sugar mixture. It will fluff up and “fill” your mixer. Continue beating until mixture has cooled in temperature.
4. Throw into a pastry bag with a tip of your choice, and pipe onto cupcakes…hint, more is better.
5. Assemble topped cupcakes onto a cookie sheet, making sure that they don’t touch. Pop them in the oven on BROIL/300-350 degrees and WATCH THEM. They can go from toasted to burnt quickly, if you’re not careful. Remove from oven once toasted…and enjoy!
They WILL last overnight, unrefridgerated but they tend to shrivel a bit. They’re best served immediately out of the oven, still warm.
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Love the site, and I encourage everyone to eat a cupcake at least once a week. Cupcakes make the world go ’round. lol
All the best!
CdnEquestrian
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