S'mores Cake {plus a giveaway!}

 

The time has come my friends.

Time to tell you about the My Politic tour.  Time to tell you about some exciting guest post news.  Time to give away some amazing things.  And time to drool over some cake.

Are you so excited?  Because I am!

Alright, let's get started. {and please bear with me...this might be a long one.}

First, let's talk about what I'm going to giveaway!

In celebration of the tour (and maybe a little sucking up for being gone for three weeks), I'm doing my second giveaway!  One of you lucky duckies will be the recipient of the following three things:

In honor of all of the S'mores I will {hopefully} be consuming in the next three weeks, I'm giving away this little S'mores kit from Matchbox Kitchen, which is an adorable blog with gorgeous pictures and delicious looking recipes.  A few of my favorites have been: Momofuku Milk Bar's Carrot Cake and this Edamame Dip with Almond Sesame Crackers.  Go check out the blog.  You'll love it.

To go with the S'mores kit I'm also giving away this ridiculously cool cookbook.  As well as delicious recipes that can be made while camping, this cookbook offers tips on essential equipment, supplies, food storage and preparation safety, cooking methods, and menu planning in the great outdoors.  Sounds wonderful right?  Click {here} to browse through it.

And finally the lucky winner will be receiving the brand new My Politic album, American Will.  You can get a sneak peek of their music {here}.

Sounds amazing right?  Well I've got one more thing.  Instead of just ONE winner, four others will also be receiving a copy of the My Politic album!  Swoon.

*Now for the rules and regulations.*

The giveaway will be open from Monday May 28th 2012 until Friday June 1st at midnight!  Sometime Saturday morning I will choose the five winners using a random number generator, so be sure to check back to see if you've won!  Good luck!

To enter the giveaway you must do the following two things:
1) Leave me a comment telling me about your big plans for the summer!  Lazy days by the pool?  Vacation?  Work?  Moving?  Gardening?  Tell me about it!
2) Become a follower!  You can do that by clicking "Join this site" on the left hand side of the screen.  It's that simple!

And now for a few ways to get yourself an additional entry or two:
1) Follow me on Bloglovin
2) Tweet about this giveaway -- make sure to leave your twitter handle in the comment!
3) Tell me what your favorite post was on Matchbox Kitchen's site
4) Go like My Politic music on Facebook

Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!

Giveaway.  Check.

Tour things, next.

I've been hinting at the My Politic tour for quite sometime now.  And finally I get to tell you all about it.  Next Tuesday, I'll be heading out with two of the members from My Politic on an incredible three week music tour that they have put together themselves.  This will be tour number two, but last time was only five days...this one is three weeks.  Three weeks of camping, three weeks of driving, three weeks of glorious music...basically three weeks of unabashed fun.  AND I CANNOT WAIT.  I seriously wish I could bring all of you with me.

That being said...I'm going to throw out the line-up for you.  That way if you happen to be in/around any of these cities on the date given you can come out to the show because that would be ahhhmazing.

June 5th - The HeadHouse in Philadelphia, PA
June 6th - The Acoustic Coffeehouse in Johnson City, TN
June 7th - The Camp House in Chattanooga, TN
June 9th - The Camp House in Chattanooga, TN
June 11th - WonderRoot in Atlanta, GA
June 12th - Remedy Coffee in Knoxville, TN
June 13th - Thats CooL in Nashville, TN
June 15th - House Show in Springfield, MO
June 16th - Springfield Farmers Market in Springfield, MO
June 16th - Copper Run Distillery in Walnut Shade, MO
June 17th - The Bell's BBQ in Ozark, MO (this is at my house...so you're ALL welcome to come!)
June 19th - House Show in Syracuse, NY
June 20th - The HeadHouse in Philadelphia, PA
June 22nd - Epicure Cafe in Fairfax, VA
June 23rd - Radio Bean in Burlington, VT

Impressive, right?

One more thing about these cities...if you know any wonderful food places in these areas that we MUST go...for goodness sake please let me know.  My Politic may be on a music tour...but this girl is on a FOOD tour.

As you can see I'm going to be away from my kitchen for a verrrrry long time.  It's unfortunate, but worth it.  But that also means that getting recipes to you is going to be impossible.  Also unfortunate.  BUT I have good news.  I have rounded up some amazing friends/fellow bloggers to get on here and share some recipes with you.  These people are wonderful so make sure to check back in the coming weeks for their posts...and give them a ridiculous amount of love when you can.

Schedule. Check.

Exciting guest post news.  Check.

Whew.  Are you ready for cake?

S'mores Cake... 

with toasted marshmallow frosting

Makes: 1 three layer 6-inch round cake + 12 cupcakes   Prep Time: 30 minutes  Bake Time: 20-25 minutes   Total Time: 2 hours

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredient:
for the chocolate cake - adapted from Our Best Bites
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the pans
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup hot water
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks

for the graham cracker crunch layer-
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar

for the toasted marshmallow frosting - adapted from Sweetapolita
16 large white marshmallows
1 cup confectioners' or powdered sugar
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 ounce jar of Marshmallow Cream (or fluff)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.  Grease three 6-inch cake pans with butter and dust with flour turning over to knock out excess.
2. Combine chocolate, cocoa powder, and hot water in a medium heatproof bowl and set over saucepan containing 1 inch of simmering water.  Stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate is melted.  Add 1/2 cup sugar to chocolate and stir for 1-2 minutes.  Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool.
3. In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking soda, and salt.  Combine buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk eggs and yolks on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds.  Add remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar and increase speed to high, whipping until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Replace whisk with paddle attachment and add chocolate mixture, mixing on medium speed for 1 minute.  Scrape sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.  Add softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing 10 seconds after each addition.  Add 1/3 of flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk mixture.  Mixing each until incorporated, about 15 seconds.  Repeat until all of the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture have been added.
4. Combine graham cracker crunch layer ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a fork.  Divide mixture between cake pans and press down in an even layer.
5. Divide prepared cake batter between pans.  If you have extra, don't worry!  Make cupcakes!
6. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes.  Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack.  Cool cakes to room temperature before frosting, about an hour.  (If baking cupcakes -- bake for 10-12 minutes)
7. While the cakes are cooling prepare the frosting -- Place marshmallows on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Turn the broiler in your oven on, and broil the marshmallows until they are toasty and brown on top, about 30-60 seconds.  Remove pan from oven and gently turn the marshmallows over, broil until the other side is also golden brown.  Combine butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed until blended, about 1 minute.  Add vanilla and mix on high for about 3 minutes.  Add marshmallow cream and toasted marshmallows, mixing on the lowest setting for about a minute.
8. To assemble the cake -- place one layer on a cake stand with the graham cracker layer facing up.  Add several spoonfuls of frosting over the layer and spread evenly.  Repeat with the next two levels.  After the third layer pile the rest of the frosting on top and start pulling down to frost the sides.  Top with graham cracker crumbs and cocoa nibs...or whatever else you can come up with!

Good luck everyone!

**Update: This giveaway is now over!  Congratulations to Courtney from The Fig Tree for winning the grand prize!  Also congratulations to Sue, Andrea, Richard, and Monica for winning a copy of the new My Politic album!  Thank you to everyone that participated!**