S'mores Cupcakes

On Saturday we celebrated my Nephew, Charles, earning the rank of Eagle Scout. I am so proud of him, he worked so hard for this!  The whole thing made me kinda weepy too. It seems like just yesterday he was Cordelia sized- obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine, Blues Clues, and tie dyed shirts. Above are pictures of the ceremony, Cordelia eating some treats, Charles' award, his super cool kerchief holder (do those things have a name?), and the totally cool cake my sister made for the event. I did however forget my camera- so please forgive the cell phone pictures.

 As I mentioned before, I made cupcakes for the event (He wanted a cake and cupcakes, and you only get your Eagle once so we let him have both). I asked Charles what kind of cupcakes he wanted and he almost instantly asked for S'mores cupcakes. I was a little caught off guard- S'mores really? S'mores are soo good on their own, why would you want to mess with that? He picked well because these turned out awesome! They were chocolate cake, with a Hershey bar center, graham cracker crust and topped with marshmallow frosting. 

My sister and I turned to Pinterest in search for inspiration for a recipe. We based what we did from Kevin & Amanda's recipe found here and from Jennifer Shea's recipe found here. Both are awesome recipes and you should totally check them out as well. 

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

5 tbsp melted butter

Grind up the graham crackers in the food processor until they are pretty fine. Melt your butter in a microwave safe dish- or in a pot over the stove, which is what I do because it always seems easier for me. Add the cracker crumbs and the sugar and stir well. Place 1 tablespoon of mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down with the back of the spoon to flatten. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes. 

Chocolate Cake

1 box devil's food cake mix

1 small package Jello instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla 

Hersey's dark chocolate bars

Mix together everything (except the Hersey's bars). This batter will be really thick, and you want it that way. Add 1 heaping tablespoon of batter to each cupcake liner. Add 1 rectangle of chocolate to each and press down to flatten it a little. Add another heaping tablespoon of batter on top. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes. 

Marshmallow Frosting

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not big on icing, if you are double this. 

8 tsp Meringue powder

8 Tbs water (Meringue powder and water can be substituted with 4 egg whites)

1 cup of sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place the meringue powder, water, sugar, and cream of tarter in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm- about 3 or 4 minutes. 

Switch over to your electric mixer and beat- starting at a low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, shiny peaks form. Remember, stiffer is prettier when it comes to icing these. Add your vanilla, and mix until combined. Use immediately. Transfer to piping bag with the decorating tip of your choice- I went with a larger round tip, nothing too fancy, and pipe desired amounts onto cooled cupcakes. Using a small torch, a butane lighter, or if you don't have either- your oven broiler, to brown and harden the icing. 

The above image I posted on my Instagram while I was baking- if you don't follow me on Instagram already you should totally look me up!