Hallmark isn’t just about the holidays – Hallmark is about life.
Not just milestones, but the moments between the milestones. Hallmark wants to encourage you to put the pause back in life and help you make emotional connections every day.
They want to help you celebrate the moments that don’t happen every day, but could happen any day. You won’t receive an invitation to these moments. They aren’t on your calendar. But they’re the ones you’ll remember for years.
They’re the special moments buried with the traditional holidays and occasions. They’re “us” moments. They’re memorable. They’re spontaneous. They’re perfectly, imperfect unplanned moments.
And today, our family was able to have one with a huge snow storm that we woke up to! Our day started with waking up to one cold and chilly day. Of course with a six year old, we had to go out in the snow to play. I on the other hand would have been happy to just sit in front of a fire all day, but that's not what kids like to do. So we all went outside as a family.
After playing for about an hour I finally got to pick what I wanted to do which was bake something. I love turning on the oven in the wintertime so since Mary and I have been watching Cupcake Wars for a few days now on Roku, we decided to make some cupcakes!
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for the Frosting
1 pound cream cheese
2 sticks butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners. In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. In another bowl blend the oil, eggs, buttermilk, food coloring and vanilla extract. Gently add the dry ingredients in. Pour mix into cupcake tray and bake for about 20 minutes. Let cupcakes cool for about 10 to 15 minutes and then cut the middle out of them. Fill with cream cheese frosting and then top with the frosting as well. Sprinkle with red sugar crystals.
How to Make the Frosting
Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together. Add sugar slowly until mixture is fluffy.
So overall I think our snowy baking day went well! At least until we all went back outside to play in the snow again and my husband locked us all out! So with mighty strength, he broke into the basement to let us all back in. But with that aside, I think the day was very fun. It was unplanned but it will always be a memory!
Happy New Year from Hallmark! Share how you’ll create memories with your family in the new year. Visit Hallmark.com/explore for their full product line and special offers. Life is a special occasion so celebrate!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hallmark. The opinions and text are all mine.
About Me
Buy Our Books
Buy Our E-Books
CONVERSATION