Popcorn Cupcakes- Cooking with Aiden

Our grandson, Aiden, came for a weekend visit.

Yes, Popcorn Cupcakes!

Of course, Saturday was filled with things to do.

The first event was for an important cause.

We participated in a "Walk to End Alzheimer's". 

We walked with my co-workers at Home Instead Senior Care.

Then, back home for lunch and a baking project.

This is Aiden's first year in Cub Scouts.  He is a Tiger Cub Scout.

His pack is selling popcorn as a fund raiser for his local cub scout group.

The Popcorn Cupcakes is a great recipe

 if you like your popcorn in the form of a cupcake.

It was fun to make.

And, if you have an opportunity to support a local Cub Scout Group,

 by all means do so.

The fund raisers help to fund projects for the boys.

 To make the Popcorn Cupcakes, you need to read the directions.

Aiden is in first grade and is a super reader.
He has a sign in his front yard to prove it!

If you notice, Aiden is sporting his purple Mohawk from the Alzheimer's Walk.

We are following the directions on the box of the cake mix.

First, pour the dry cake mix into a mixing bowl.

We are using a white cake mix.

 Then add 1 cup of water.

 Crack 3 eggs into a small bowl, so if an egg shell falls into the bowl,

 you can get it out.
Aiden said he knew how to crack the eggs open.
He has helped his Papa make his famous homemade Angel Food Cake.
Note to self.  Ask Papa (Tom) if he would like to blog his Angel Food Cake.
He has made this cake for his children and grand children
every year for their birthdays.
His cake is so much better than the store bought varieties.

Then add the eggs to the mixing bowl.

 I wanted to help Aiden, so I added 1/2 cup vegetable oil.

 Beat with a mixer on medium.

Aiden is reading how long to mix the batter.

Mix for 2 minutes.

 Line mini muffin pans with liners.

We used white so the finished cupcakes would look like popcorn in the bowl.

 Part of the job is to lick the beaters.

 Have an adult, or grandma, put the pans into a 350 degree oven.

(My oven mitt was a Christmas gift from Aiden and Camden when

they were 4 years old and 1 year old.)

We baked our cupcakes for 13 minutes.

 When the cupcakes are cool, frost with white frosting.

Then top them with mini marshmallows.

Leave the cupcakes out to dry for a little while

before you put them into popcorn bowls or cartons.

 S'Mores were part of our activities.

We had a beautiful 80 degree fall day.

Perfect for roasting marshmallows.

The First Recipe

No one knows for sure who invented the s’more.
However, the first published recipe for “some mores” was in a 1927 publication called
Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts.
 The name "some more" was presumably because
 any person who ate one inevitably asked for another...some more.

 Loretta Scott Crew, who made them for Girl Scouts by the campfire, is given credit for the recipe.
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-are-they-called-s-mores

 Aiden is learning to "whittle".

He sharpened the end of his stick with his pocket knife
 to roast his marshmallow.

 We didn't have a campfire, so we used the grill for roasting.

Grandpa helped on quality control before it was too burned.

This dessert has gone by different names and inspired scores of variations,
but the original combination of graham crackers, milk chocolate and marshmallows
 has remained an American tradition over the years.
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/called-smores-26735.html

" I want S'more!"

This is the finished product.

The mini cupcakes are packaged into the boxes to take home

and there is still a bowl of "Popcorn Cupcakes"

for Grandpa and Grandma.

Thanks, Aiden, for a great day!