New Years Eve S'mores Cupcakes

If you have never heard of s'mores before then allow me to educate you.  They originate from America so I am aware there will be many of my English followers who are not familiar with them.  They are a campfire dessert consisting of a graham cracker sandwich filled with toasted marshmallow and melted chocolate and they first appeared in a girl scout handbook published way back in 1927.  

You may recall that I am a huge s'mores fan! In the past I've made s'mores brownies, s'mores cookie bars, s'mores pies and even s'mores milkshakes so you knew it was only a matter of time before I was going to turn them into a cupcake! 

My whole prezzie from my sister was baking/cupcake themed. I also got cupcake pj's, an amazing toasted marshmallow philosophy set (how s'mores is that!) and some amazing KitchenAid earrings - they are the cutest things ever! 

Luckily for me, I was spoilt with plenty of baking books and cupcake treats this Christmas.  One present I received was Making Cupcakes with Lola.  Not only is it an awesome cupcake book filled with tons of mouth watering recipes, but my sister who gave it to me had gone to their book signing in London before Christmas and even got the authors to hand write me a message in the front - how cool is that! They said they hoped it would provide me with some good inspiration for my blog, and how right they were! 

I decided to make these for our New Years Eve party because last New Year's Eve we were toasting real s'mores by a bonfire on the beach in Turks and Caicos! and so I thought it would be a fun way to incorporate s'mores this year without the beautiful beach and bonfire! 

My whole family decided it was a great idea too! and they were a party hit! With a graham cracker base, crushed up graham crackers in the brown sugar cupcake, marshmallow frosting and melted choc drizzled on top how could they not be?

S'mores Cupcakes:

Makes 12

From Making Cupcakes with Lola

120g crushed graham crackers (digestive biscuits if you can't get any grahams)

2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

150g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

180g unsalted butter, cubed and soft

150g packed light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, at room temperature

150ml semi-skimmed milk

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Mix three quarters of the crushed graham crackers with the melted butter.  Place 1 teaspoon of this into each cupcake case - enough to cover the base of the case.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Add the remaining cracker crumbs and mix well.

Put the cubed butter, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.  Stop occasionally to scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula, or your KitchenAid beater.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour in one third of the dry ingredients and beat on low speed, add half of the milk and beat well.  Repeat this process, then finish with the last third of the dry ingredients.

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases.  

Bake for 25-30 minute or until well risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool in cupcake pan for 5 minutes before cooling them on a wire rack.

Marshmallow Frosting:

Makes enough to frost the above

180g caster sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

100ml water

3 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the sugar, cream of tartar and 100ml of water in a saucepan and mix well with a wire whisk.

Heat until the sugar has dissolved and a sugar thermometer in the mixture reads 115 degrees C.

Meanwhile, in a separate grease free heatproof bowl, whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

Pour a thin, slow stream of the sugar syrup into the egg whites whisking constantly, until the frosting stands in peaks.  Make sure the syrup goes straight into the egg whites and doesn't hit the beaters otherwise sugar crystals will form (when I first read this instruction I thought it seemed impossible, but I just poured the stream of sugar down the inside of the KitchenAid bowl and that way it didn't touch the beaters even when they continued to whisk!) Stir in the vanilla with a spoon.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes in a covered bowl, or until firm enough to pipe.

To assemble:

3 or 4 crushed graham crackers

12 squares of milk chocolate

Additional milk chocolate for melting (about 15 squares)

Crush the graham crackers in a bowl (I did this using a rolling pin).  Then, transfer them onto a small plate.

Melt about 15 square of chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second spurts, stirring in between.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.  Pipe a swirl of frosting on each cupcake.

Roll the edge of each cupcake in the plate of crumbs.

Put the cooled melted chocolate in a piping bag and cut off a very thin opening.

Drizzle each cupcake with the melted chocolate.

Finish, by topping each cupcake with an individual square of chocolate

The final step is to serve them up to the lucky people you baked them for and watch them enjoy how delicious they are! Happy baking! 

I'm linking this up over at Hoosier Homemade for Cupcake Tuesday and at Sweet as Sugar Cookies for Sweets for a Saturday