S'mores Cupcakes

Hey Everyone!

So I was watching an episode of Cupcake Wars last night and one of the contestants made a S'mores Cupcake and I thought that would be such an awesome challenge for me! I decided to make it differently than she had and I hope you guys like the results. I based my chocolate cupcake off of Martha Stewart's Devil's Food Cupcake. I made a couple of changes, so I have rewritten the recipe the way I made it. To see the original, please visit http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/devils-food-cupcakes-book.

When I was little, we used to spend some of our summer down at our family cottage in Wareham, MA. We were lucky enough to be right on the water, so my cousins, sister and I would all set up a campfire and do toasted marshmellows, s'mores and tell ghost stories. Still to this day, those are some of my favorite summer memories of my whole life. I really loved how these cupcakes reminded me of all those beautiful summers at the cottage.

I included some pictures of the cupcakes as well as some of the view at our beautiful cottage. Enjoy! As always, send your pictures, comments or questions to cookingwithcait@gmail.com!

Someone mentioned they weren't able to comment on my post. I believe you need to have a gmail account to comment. Feel free to send me an email or tweet me on twitter @caithowland, and I'll answer any questions you have. Sorry if that's an incovenience! :/ Love you all xoxoxo

S'mores Cupcakes (Makes 48)

Chocolate Batter:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp instant espresso powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp almond extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Graham Cracker Crumble:
1 package graham crackers
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp almond extract

Marshmallow Frosting:
2 7oz container Marshmallow creme
1 stick butter, room temperature
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp almond extract
1 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners. Using a food processer, grind graham crackers to crumb. In a medium saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter. After butter is melted, take off heat and mix in graham crackers, brown sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Set aside.

Combine cocoa powder, espresso and hot water until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Heat butter and sugar over medium heat in saucepan until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. In a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar mixture until cooled. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add vanilla and cocoa/espresso mixture. Add a third of the flour mixture, then half of the sour cream. Continue alternating until all ingredients have been incorporated.

Spoon mixture into cupcake liners, fill 3/4s of the way. Sprinkle graham cracker mixture over top of batter until mostly covered. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on wire rack for 10-15 minutes.

For the frosting, using electric mixer, beat1 stick of room temperature butter in large mixing bowl until fluffy. Add in marshmallow creme until fully mixed. Next add in powdered sugar in 4 increments. Lastly, add in vanilla and almond extracts. Add 1/2 tbsp of milk and check consistency. Add other 1/2 tbsp if necessary. Place frosting in piping bag with large tip to fill cupcakes.

Insert piping bag in middle of cooled cupcakes, being sure to only go 1/4 of the way down. Squeeze piping bag to fill middle and frost a little on the top as desired. Refrigerate for up to 3 days, or serve warm.

I like to fill the cupcakes while they are still warm, but you can of course wait a few hours if you'd like them fully cooled. Waiting the few hours will help with presentation, as the marshmallow frosting is all gooey if you frost it soon after they have back. I personally like it warm, but try it both ways and let me know what you think!