S'mores Cupcakes

Last weekend I traveled to my hometown to visit family and friends and and to celebrate birthdays. I had my 3rd annual 29th birthday, and another friend of mine (Alison) had her 2nd annual 29th birthday (do the math). Alison's favorite cupcake flavor is S'mores, so I was itching to make these. I made the cupcake portion before traveling, but I had to make the marshmallow frosting the day of, since it doesn't hold up well overnight. It didn't take long to make, so that was fine. My 5 year old nephew (pictured below) was in awe when I was toasting these with my kitchen torch. He said, "It smells like roasted marshmallows in here." Precious!

I was really pleased with the flavor of these cupcakes. I highly recommend eating these with a fork. The graham cracker crusts on the bottom and top are very crumbly, which makes it even more like eating the "real thing." The chocolate cake was so moist, and it's surely going to be my go-to recipe from now on. I got the recipe from Paula (originally from the book, Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri), and she was so helpful in answering all my questions about making these cupcakes.

I added grated Hershey's bars right after the crusts came out of the oven. Once the crusts cooled, I added the chocolate cake batter and then topped with more of the graham cracker and grated Hershey's mixture before placing in the oven.

S'mores Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes


Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Bottom and Topping
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
5 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 ounces grated Hershey's bar, divided into two (1-ounce) portions

Chocolate Cake Batter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup boiling water
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
Graham cracker topping remainder (see above)

Marshmallow Frosting
2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish
Hershey Bar squares
Graham Crackers


Directions:

Graham Cracker Bottom
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. (If you only have one muffin pan, simply cook half of the graham cracker and cupcake mixture and then repeat.) In a small mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; mix well with a fork. Drop a heaping 1 Tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. (Set the rest of the crumbs aside and mix half (1-ounce) of the grated Hershey Bar with them.) Bake until golden and lightly fragrant, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the other half of the grated Hershey's Bar on top of the warm crusts and let cool.


Chocolate Cake Batter and Topping
Set rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350-degrees F (if it's not already at this temp).
Stir the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Put the chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl, and pour the boiling water over it. Let stand for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Whisk in the butter, then the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla and sour cream.
Whisk in the flour and sugar mixture in 3 separate additions, whisking until smooth after each.

Divide the batter equally among the cupcake liners. Top with the remainder of the graham cracker/chocolate mixture, and spread evenly on top. Bake the cupcakes until they are well risen and feel firm when pressed in the center with a fingertip (or when a toothpick entered into the center comes out clean), about 20 minutes.

Cool in the pans on racks for 5 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to racks and cool completely before frosting.


Marshmallow Frosting
In a large heatproof bowl (or the metal bowl of your electric mixer), combine the egg whites, sugar, water, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt.

Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat mixture, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160-degrees F), about 3 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high speed, about 2 minutes.

In a small bowl, microwave 1 cup mini marshmallows 30 seconds to 1 minute, until puffed, and starting to melt.

Add marshmallows to mixture in electric mixer, reduce speed to low and add vanilla. Continue beating (on low) until the marshmallows are melted and frosting is completely smooth (about 3-4 minutes). Use frosting right away.


Assembly
Frost cooled chocolate cupcakes with Marshmallow frosting. If desired, use a kitchen torch to brown the frosting. Top frosted cupcakes with a piece of Hershey's chocolate and a piece of graham cracker.


Sources:
Chocolate Cupcake: Dishing the Divine (originally from Modern Baker, by Nick Malgieri)
Marshmallow Frosting:  Authentic Suburban Gourmet (originally from Cucpakes by Shelly Kaldunski)
Assembly Idea and Graham Cracker Topping Idea: Wonderful Joy Ahead