Monday, January 18, 2010

Cake of the Week: S'more Cupcakes

I was sitting at work the other day, minding my own business, innocently researching whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico, when Jess emailed me a link to this blog
Woah - I want that. No wait, I need that, NOW!

So I immediately took my lunch break, walked to the grocery store, and bought all the necessary ingredients. Purse full of marshmallows and graham crackers? Yes. True story.


Let's just take a moment for graham crackers. (Sidenote: OMG - Wikipedia tells me that Dr. Graham invented these crackers as a part of a diet regimen designed to suppress "unhealthy carnal urges"!)  

Damn. Oh well, I love them anyway. They go well with chocolate, and with peanut butter, and with dried cranberries (preferably all 4 of these key ingredients at the same time) - which in my book qualifies any food as a good one, effects on my "carnal urges" aside...

Though graham crackers are pretty low on the evil-scale, they are a bit elusive. Are they a cookie? No, definitely not. I know what a cookie is, and graham crackers do not fit into that category by any stretch. But they're not really a cracker either. To me, a cracker is a dry, flat, baked good that goes well with a sharp cheddar or hunk of Camenbert.


Graham crackers and cheddar? No. I am not ok with that. The only context in which graham crackers and cheese work is if it's cream cheese in its frosting form (
yes - I could do some graham crackers and frosting right now!).

Back to my recipe.
S'mores Cupcakes. They're a layer of graham cracker cake, followed by a layer of chocolate cake, with marshmallow in the middle and graham cracker crumbles on top. Yowza!
Some Notes on the Recipe:

Mine turned out delicious, but not quite a pretty as the
Bakerella's. Be careful that you don't fill the cupcake tins all the way! The recipe says it makes 12 cupcakes, but I'm not sure what kind of sumo cupcake pan she has! I made 18 overflowing cupcakes...




How did I get them out? Very carefully. Seriously, try prying them with a butter knife, and jiggling the pan sideways to get stubborn cupcakes out without them tearing in half.

Also, I used 5 mini marshmallows instead of a half of a big marshmallow inside each cupcake. They totally melted. Though after reading the comments on the original recipe, it looks like the marshmallow is
supposed to melt. I guess it's just there to add sweet stickiness. 

And as for the gnache on top - I think that any form of frosting on these babies would just be way too sweet. (And that's a bold statement coming from this sugar-holic!)

I used cinnamon graham crackers, instead of the original honey variety.

You could probably make half the Graham Cracker Crumb Topping and have enough.

Overall, definitely a recipe worth trying again. Next time I won't get so over-zealous with the cupcake batter. Sometimes less is more (though, as you know,
sometimes it isn't!)
S’more Cupcakes (from Bakerella)
Cupcakes
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 cup cocoa
  • 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 6 jumbo marshmallows cut in half, plus more for decorating


Graham Cracker Crumb topping
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted

Ganache
  • 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda together with a wire whisk.

Separate the mixture in half into two bowls.

Stir cocoa into one bowl and the graham cracker crumbs into the other.

Add 1/2 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 cup oil to the cocoa mixture and beat on medium until combined.

Repeat adding the same ingredients to the graham cracker crumb flour mixture.

Prepare the graham cracker crumb topping:
Add the brown sugar and crumbs in a small bowl and pour on the melted butter. Stir until combined.

Pour a little graham cracker cake batter into the bottom of your baking cups and then sprinkle the topping mixture lightly on the surface.

Place a marshmallow half on top and then cover the marshmallow with the chocolate cake batter until it is about 3/4 full.

Sprinkle with more topping mixture.

Bake cupcakes for about 15 minutes. Place a cookie sheet underneath when you bake just in case. I had a little bit ooze over into the oven. Oops.

This recipe will make at least 12 cupcakes. I had a some batter from each left over so you can probably get more like 14-16.

Let cool and top with ganache.

Heat the butter and cream on the stove. Heat until just before it boils. Remove and pour over chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Pour over cupcakes and add more marshmallows if you desire.



Hope you like them!