S'mores Cupcakes

The bad news is I live in one of those school districts that doesn't allow "homemade treats" for class birthday and holiday parties.  Just pretend I don't complain about this every other day.  Who the frikk am I supposed to bake for if not a bunch of sugar-loving little kids?? 

The good news is I have a husband who is basically a big kid and who lets me bake him treats to take to work.

Yes, I realize how backwards this is.

I made these for him to take to work on his birthday.  They were pretty good.  Not my favorite marshmallow frosting ever but I have aversions to eggs and now that I realize marshmallow is made of eggs I may never eat it again. 

Sometimes it's blissful to be ignorant.

I chopped up some nice bittersweet chocolate for the inside, which makes a nice grown-up version of S'mores cupcakes, but if you want it to taste like an authentic campfire s'more you will probably want to use a little chunk of a Hershey's bar or kiss in each liner instead.

S'more Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Recipe from Martha Stewart.com

For Graham Cracker Crust:
-1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I think I used about a sleeve minus the one cracker that I ate...)
-1/3 cup butter, melted
-1/4 cup sugar

- 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or Hershey's squares or Kisses (about 24- 1 per liner)

Mix crumbs, butter, and sugar in a bowl until well-combined. Place 1 Tbsp of mixture into the bottom of each paper-lined cupcake tin.  Pack down with a glass or squeeze bottle if you have one on hand.

 

 

Place 2 tsp chopped chocolate, or 1 square of Hershey's chocolate on top of each graham cracker crust.

 

Bake crusts at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until chocolate is melted and edges of crust are golden. Remove from oven.


For Cupcakes:
-1 chocolate cake mix and ingredients listed on back of box.

Mix cupcakes according to package instructions. 

Fill each graham-bottomed liner about 3/4 full with chocolate cake batter. Bake according to package directions.  Probably about 18 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from pan and cool completely.

For Marshmallow Frosting
-4 large egg whites
-1 cup sugar
-1/4 tsp cream of tartar
-1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Combine egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a metal bowl and set over a saucepan with simmering water a inch deep in the bottom. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch.  It will take about 5 minutes.  Since we're using raw eggs, make sure to heat the mixture to 160 degrees before removing from heat.  I just use an insta-read thermometer to check.

 

Transfer your mixture to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat at low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy, peaks form.  This will take 5 to 7 minutes.

Add vanilla, and mix until combined.  Pipe onto cupcakes using a pastry bag and tip.


Place cupcakes on a baking sheet and turn oven on to "broil" (about 500 degrees).  Place the baking sheet in the oven and watch them like a hawk to make sure they don't scorch.  You want them to be just lightly toasted. It will probably only take a minute.

Garnish with graham cracker triangles (use a gentle sawing motion to cut grahams without breaking them) or pieces of chocolate.

Once the marshmallow frosting sets up it may be difficult to garnish without splitting the marshmallow.  If this is the case just use a knife to cut a slit in the room temperature marshmallow topping and then insert garnish. 

Do not insert chocolate garnishes after marshmallow has just been toasted, unless you want a big melty mess on your hands.

Enjoy!