Oooooh my!

I made s'mores cupcakes last night and I have to tell you, these might just be the best thing I have ever made. Oh my gosh, they were sooooooo good! Make them. I promise your taste buds will thank me.

S’mores Cupcakes

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
5 Tbs. butter, melted
1/2 cup chocolate chips
100 (or so) mini marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. In food processor, pulse graham crackers until they are fine crumbs. Add sugar and melted butter and mix until well combined. Add approximately 1 tablespoon of crumbs to the bottom of each liner. 

Use a small circle object (like a measuring cup or a shot glass) to press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of each liner. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from the oven. 

Add 6-7 chocolate chips and 5 mini marshmallows to each tin.

Cake:
1 cup boiling water

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk (or use 1 cup milk mixed with 1 Tbs. vinegar)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Bring some water to boil and keep it simmering while you make the batter.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup boiling water and carefully stir until the water is mixed in; beat for 1 1/2 minutes.

Spoon batter evenly into cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. The marshmallows will float to the top but that's okay. 

Bake approximately 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

 (they look ugly, but don't worry, the frosting will cover that right up)

Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

3 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate

1 pound confectioners’ sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave, or in the top of a double boiler. In a large bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and milk. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture. Add remaining milk, a little at a time, until desired consistency is achieved. Let stand until spreadable (frosting will thicken as it cools). Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting

Dip the top into the graham cracker crumbs.

Marshmallow Frosting:

8 egg whites, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla

In a clean stainless steel mixing bowl or double boiler, combine egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar. Whisk frequently, heating the mixture over medium-high heat until the temperature reaches 160 degrees. Transfer egg mixture to stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Begin mixing at low speed, gradually increasing to medium-high speed as the mixture becomes thicker. Beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Add in the vanilla and mix until just combined. Transfer frosting to a piping bag and pipe a large dollop on top of the cupcake.

Using a kitchen torch, brown the cupcakes lightly as desired. Keep the torch moving so you don't catch any spot on fire. Just like toasting marshmallows by a campfire, slow and steady is a better approach than sticking the marshmallow to close to the fire, you're going for lightly toasted frosting not black and bubbly marshmallow.

I ran out of the marshmallow frosting so on the last few cupcakes I put an actual marshmallow on top. It worked just fine (not as pretty) but if you don't want to make the marshmallow frosting you can do this as a shortcut.