Last year, I was challenged by Don to make s'mores cupcakes. I never had but of course being a huge dessert maker and cake decorator, I accepted and went looking for a good s'more's cupcake receipe. I found one as he wanted it to be more chocolate and that one, had the graham crackers on the bottom and a chocolate cake base. Well they didn't turn out so well, came out a bit hard and just didn't have the taste or texture I think I was looking for. I am not a huge s'mores fan either but he and everyone else really liked them.
So this past Wed night as I was volunteering at Moxley for the HAuNTcon folks who came out on the tour (more on HAuNTcon later! ;) ), I decided to try another recipe for the s'more's cupcakes.
That's the premise of this and why I thought to put it here on this blog as it is a good recipe for those wanting something wickedly delicious and there are all sorts of ways you could decorate this for Halloween!
S'mores Cupcakes:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 15 whole crackers ground in processor---I just crushed them with a thick glass in a metal bowl until I got enough crumbs)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao--I used Ghiradelli), chopped
1/2 cup (scant) heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup plus one 7 ounce jar marshmallow crème
Nonstick vegetable oil spray (I used Pam Olive Oil)
12 1-inch pieces broken graham crackers (for garnish)
Special Equipment: Apple corer (I used a little juicer gadget)
Now before I type the preparation, a few hints here:
Take your butter out ahead of time to let it get to room temp.
I crushed the graham crackers in a metal bowl with a small juice glass that is thick and heavy as it works really well!
The salt I used was the Himalayan pink salt that is tons better for you than regular salt as the regular old salt is a toxin.
I tried the broiling of the dollops of marshmallow crème but it didn't work well enough to my liking so next time I am going to try to use mini marshmallows as a garnish right on the cupcake first and then heat them with a candle lighter to get that toasted look for the garnish, then insert the graham cracker. I also added another piece of Ghiradelli chocolate as you can see in the pic, cause well, can't have too much of that!
I also doubled this recipe to make 24 and I had overfilled the muffin cups so I probably could have made 26 - 28 cupcakes instead that wouldn't have overflowed and stuck a bit to the pan when I went to take them out. I wasn't sure how they would do if they would go higher up or splooge over. They splooged. But the resulting 'crusties' from the pan were great little crunchies to munch on!
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk graham crackers, flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in vanilla. Add graham cracker mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with graham cracker mixture. Divide batter among muffin cups.
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Transfer cupackes to rack; cool completely.
Place the chopped chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream just to boil in small saucepan; pour over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; stir until smooth. Cool ganache until lukewarm.
Push apple corer about 1 inch into top of each cupcake; remove cake, forming a hole. Spoon 3/4 cup marshmallow crème into resealable plastic bag (I used a pastry decorator bag with no tip, but making a saran wrap bullet of marshmallow crème first), pushing into 1 bottom corner. Cut 1/2 inch off corner. Pipe into holes in cupcakes. Spread 2 teaspoons ganache over each cupcake. DO AHEAD can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
Preheat broiler. Coat rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Spoon dollops of marshmallow crème on sheet (don't make these too large as they will spread). Broil until slightly charred, 1 - 2 minutes. Spoon dollop of charred crème over each cupcake; garnish with piece of graham cracker.
Makes 12
From: http://www.thewickednoodle.com
Like I said, I had a harder time with the broiling part, my oven doesn't have that setting and the marshmallow crème was VERY SUPER sticky and hardened as it cooled and I found it kinda chewy for what I was going for. So I will eventually make these again but using the mini marshmallows and use my candle lighter to get the charred or more so toasted look and texture.
For Halloween, I'd probably pipe lil marshmallow crème ghosts much like my icing ghosts I use for the pumpkin muffins and then toast them slightly with the lighter. I'll probably give it a whirl again and if so, will take pics and post an update!
For now, I wanted to get this recipe out there to you! :)
More on HAuNTcon and the incredible vendors and classes soon! Be looking for more updates to the link lists too!
Bugs n Hisses,
Wanda
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