Sunday, August 23, 2009

S'mores Cupcakes



Chocolate and marshmallow rank right up there as one of my favorite flavor combinations. So it should come as no surprise that combined with my love of cupcakes, this would be right up my alley.

I initially got the recipe from Martha Stewart in her new Cupcakes book, but upon further inspection I wasn't too impressed. I had envisioned a chocolate cupcake with rich ganache and toasted marshmallow frosting, but she did something funny with the cupcake base. She used that as the graham flavor by using graham flour and brown sugar, and I just didn't want to do that at all. Luckily, I had recently seen a similiar cupcake on Proceed with Caution (originally from Domestic Pursuits), and my problems were solved. Graham cracker crust, chocolate cupcake, chocolate ganache, marshmallow frosting. Perfect!

These were pretty painless to make, though they did require several steps. The good news is that you could easily split it up over 2 days, though I did do it all in one afternoon. I took these to a neighborhood party, and we all agreed that they were fun, festive, and delicious!

The only hurdle I encountered was the torch step, which is optional anyway. I bought a creme brulee torch, but failed to buy the butane for it; so I just used one of those long-necked lighters that we use for candles, and it worked beautifully. I let Joey torch some of them, and he had a great time - of course he did, give a man fire to play with and he's entertained for hours, right? ;-)

S'mores Cupcakes

adapted from Martha Stewart, Cupcakes, with inspiration from Proceed with Caution

makes 24 cupcakes


Graham Cracker Crust

  • 10 graham crackers, crushed in a food processor into crumbs
  • 1/2 stick butter, melted
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with liners, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar. Add 1 Tablespoon of the crumb mixture to each muffin tin, and use a small glass or bottle to press into the bottom. Bake 5-7 minutes, or until edges begin to brown. Remove from oven.

Chocolate Cake

adapted from Hershey's
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup Cocoa powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup hot, strong-brewed, coffee
Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Stir to combine. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Turn off mixture, and pour in the hot coffee. Stir to combine.

Fill each muffin tin 2/3 full of batter. Bake 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Martha Stewart, Cupcakes
  • 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
Place chocloate in a medium heatproof bowl. Heat the cream and corn syrup to a simmer in a small saucepan; pour over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate starts to melt, 1-3 minutes.

Gently stir the choclate and cream until completely combined. This can be refrigerated for up to 5 days in an airtight container. Just reheat gently before using.

Marshmallow Frosting

Martha Stewart, Cupcakes

  • 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (1 scant tablespoon)
  • 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup cold water
  • 1 cup sugar
In a mixing bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup of cold water. Allow gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/4 cup water and the sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; using a candy thermometer to monitor, boil syrup until it reaches the soft-ball stage (238 degrees F). Use a wet pastry brush to brush down the sides of the pan to keep sugar crystals from forming.

Remove from heat. Add syrup to the softened gelatin. Whisk mixture by hand to cool, 1-2 minutes, then use an electric mixture to whisk on medium-high speed until soft, glossy (but not dry) peaks form, 8-10 minutes. Use immediately (frosting will harden)

To assemble


Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the ganache onto each cupcake. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip, pipe frosting onto each cupcake, swirling tip and releasing as you pull up to form a peak. Use a small kitchen torch or long-necked lighter to toast the frosting. Serve immediately.




11 comments:

Lindsey said...

Wow, these look very tasty! Now I know what I am baking next weekend! :)

A Bowl Of Mush said...

These look so fantastic!!
What a great idea for cupcakes!

Jessica said...

This looks delicious! I had my first smores cupcake at one of my favorite dessert places, Chikalicious in NYC. I can't wait to try this recipe!

Anonymous said...

I have a question, what happened to the marshmallow in the marshmallow frosting? Is it not required?

Thanks for sharing the recipe by the way!

Josie said...

Hi Lovelyloey,
You make the marshmallow yourself by mixing gelatin and water with the sugar syrup. No need for the readymade stuff! :-)
-Josie

Alejandra Ramos said...

those look so great! I love toasted marshmallow!

Erin said...

Those look so good! I love s'mores!

Elizabeth said...

These look delicious, I'm actually making an adapted version of them tomorrow for my daughter's 2nd birthday (she's allergic to dairy and eggs so I'm using a vegan cupcake recipe for the base). I have a question about the frosting... it says to serve immediately because it hardens. How hard does it really become? I'd like to frost them before the party starts and not have to worry about it but want them to be yummy and still taste marshmallowy.

Thanks for your help!!

Josie said...

Hi Elizabeth,
Sure, they can be made ahead of time. the biggest thing is to make sure you pipe the marshmallow immediately because it will be too hard/sticky to pipe onto the cupcake.
I hope you enjoy!
Josie

Elizabeth said...

Thanks Josie!!!

Anonymous said...

I just made the chocolate cupcake base to go with peanut butter frosting and they were so great! The recipe halves beautifully too. Thanks!

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