S’mores Cupcakes

I’m not going to lie, I was slightly disappointed with this recipe… ONLY because I wasn’t crazy about the frosting. I loved the cake and graham cracker crust, though!

As usual, my impatient self tried to rush the process of the Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe and I ended up with a soupy frosting disaster. At that point in the night, I was too irritated and too tired to try the recipe again (I was also making the Faux Host Cupcakes), so I opted to make a Marshmallow Buttercream. The Marshmallow Buttercream was still tasty, but I was just envisioning a cupcake with a toasted marshmallow frosting.

Oh, well… There’s always next time! And believe me, there will be a next time!

Graham Cracker Crust recipe by Homemade by Holman:

3/4 cup graham crackers

2 tablespoons sugar

2 ½ tablespoons  unsalted butter, melted

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

Marshmallows

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. In food processor, pulse graham crackers until they are fine crumbs.
3. Add sugar and melted butter and mix until well combined.
4. Add approximately 1 tablespoon of crumbs to the bottom of each liner. Use a small circle object (I used a shot glass) to press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of each liner.
5. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from the oven.
6. Divide the chopped chocolate evenly among the cupcakes. Add approximately 4 marshmallows to each tin.

Chocolate Cupcake recipe slightly adapted from Ina Garten:

¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons good cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup buttermilk, shaken

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 extra-large egg, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup freshly brewed hot coffee

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper liners in muffin tin for 20 cupcakes.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.
5. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
6. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans (about ¼ cup batter per cupcake) and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
7. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.