S'mores Cupcakes

The one thing about finding great basic recipes is the ability to mix and match them to create something new and fun. I first stumbled upon S'more cupcakes on one of my new favorite blogs Annie's Eats. While reading through the recipe - I noticed 3 key components: chocolate cake, a marshmallow-like meringue and a graham cracker crust. I immediately thought of three things: the chocolate Tuxedo cake batter, the 7-minute frosting and Biscoff cookies. A killer combination, if you ask me.

S'mores Cupcakes
Chocolate Cake (adapted from Tuxedo Cake)
makes 36 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Biscoff Crumb
3 cups Biscoff crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Bittersweet chocolate

Marshmallow Meringue Frosting
8 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

For the crumb
Combine Biscoff cookies and sugar in a food processor and pulse until cookies are completely crumbled. Pour in melted butter and pulse for 5 seconds. The crumbs may stick together too much at this point to allow for sufficient mixing - you may need to transfer the mixture to a small bowl to mix in the butter completely.



Drop about 1-2 tablespoons of the Biscoff mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. Sprinkle chocolate on top of the crust. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from the oven.



For the cake
Combine the butter, water, and canola oil in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, cocoa, and flour. Pour the butter mixture into the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Then whisk in the buttermilk. Whisk in the baking soda, salt, and vanilla all at once. For more detailed photo instructions, please visit my Tuxedo Cake post.

Pour the batter into each cupcake liner until 3/4 full. You can sprinkle some more crumbs on the tops of each cupcake for a different presentation. I experimented with both a solid cake top and a crumb top - the crumb top made the cupcakes look super yummy.



Return the cupcakes to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.



For the frosting
Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium to maintain a steady simmer. Combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a bowl. Place the bowl over the simmering water and immediately begin beating with an electric hand mixer set to low speed. Beat for 1 minute and then increase the speed to high and continue to beat for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat in the vanilla extract for 1 minute. Allow the frosting to sit for 5 minutes before using.Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.



Since these are S'mores cupcakes, you really can't get away with NOT torching the tops to mimic the gooey toasted marshmallows from campfire s'mores. You have 2 options here. If you have a creme brulee torch on hand, you can use it to toast each individual cupcake. However, to save time, you can also place the frosted cupcakes on a baking sheet and throw them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. I prefer this method and used our toaster oven rather than the convection oven so I can carefully monitor the browning - these cupcakes brown very, very quickly.

I also ran out of frosting towards the end. Rather than wasting another 30 minutes making a batch of meringue, I whipped up some sweetened cream (used to frost the original Tuxedo cake) using whipping cream and powdered sugar. I tossed some of the extra Biscoff crumbs on the top for decoration.



As Valentine's Day is tomorrow, these cupcakes are coming with me to work. Ray bought me a pretty blue 36-cupcake holder from Costco for easy transport.

Happy Valentine's Day!