s'mores cupcakes.

I think the main reason I wanted to make these cupcakes is because I've always wanted to decorate my cupcakes with adorable peeps sitting regally in the middle. And since peeps are marshmallows, I immediately thought of combining them with a graham cracker cupcake and chocolate frosting for a s'mores combination.

The graham cracker cupcake is packed full of graham cracker crumbs while being sturdy enough to have some semblance of structure. It is also easy to make without having to whisk egg whites and fold them into the batter. The only problem I encountered with the batter was that it started to curdle after adding the milk but the cupcakes came out fine texturally.

The chocolate frosting is taken out of Rose's Heavenly Cakes. In the book, it was paired with a white cake and strawberry mousseline buttercream. If you've come across this page before, the full name of this frosting is Miss Irene Thompson's Dark Chocolate Frosting and it's touted to be sticky and gooey. How to resist that description?

The frosting is almost like hot fudge because of the corn syrup. Believe me, it is extremely sticky and when at room temperature, has a glaze consistency. If you want to frost the cupcakes in decadent sweeping swirls of frosting, you will need to chill the frosting. The best thing about this frosting is that it can keep at room temperature for up to 3 days, which is perfect because marshmallows do not take well to refrigeration. On the flip side, because the frosting is primarily made out of corn syrup, it can get pretty sweet so if you like, you can use more unsweetened chocolate and less of the bittersweet.

S'mores Cupcakes
makes 6
adapted from Nabisco

The only changes I made were to use both brown and regular sugar and add salt. The cupcakes don't rise much and if you divide the batter equally, you will get 6 perfectly risen level cupcakes.

For the cupcakes:
3/4 cup graham crackers crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/8 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder and salt.

Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and beat until the mixture is smooth. Add in the vanilla extract.

Alternately add the flour mixture with the milk, beating well after each addition, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Divide the batter amongst the paper liners.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out mostly clean, with a few moist crumbs attached.

For the dark chocolate frosting:
25g unsweetened chocolate, chopped
21g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
12g unsalted butter
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the chocolates and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water until almost completely melted. Remove from heat and stir until completely melted. Stir in the corn syrup until incorporated. Stir in the vanilla extract until combined. Cool the frosting until thick enough to frost or glaze.

Assembly:
6 peeps marshmallow chicks

After the cupcakes have cooled, frost or glaze them with the chocolate frosting. Place a marshmallow chick in the center. Do not refrigerate cupcakes after decorating with peeps.