S'mores Cupcakes

Shocking, I know... more marshmallow. Are you all getting tired of my fondness of marshmallow? Don't worry my next recipe won't have it. Scouts honor, I think I can say that... I was in Girl Scouts till I was 13, that's gotta mean something... right? Are you a scout?

I once adopted a dog and named her Scout, unfortunately, as my Dad says, I put the cart before the horse on that one. Things didn't quite workout and I had to take her to a no-kill shelter, it was heart breaking. But that's enough sad, let's get on with the good!

Oh on another side note, I'm typing this while watching the Pres. talk about Libya. I feel like that should take precedent, but I'm currently working on my multi-tasking. We'll see how well that goes :) Also, if I don't pay attention I don't have to "discuss" it with RJ later. He LOVES his politics.

Yesterday was unseasonably cold for NC, it was the lowest high they have a on record. Werid wording, but that's what the news said. Anywho, I didn't want to go out in the sleeting cold rain, so I decided to warm up with cupcakes. I've had this idea in my head for months so I finally chose to go with it and this is what I came up with.

I knew I wanted to make a graham cracker cupcake, as opposed to making a crust with a chocolate cake. I also wanted to use marshmallow in my frosting instead of making a meringue. Then came the chocolate... how to put that in there? Drizzle it? No. Coat the marshmallow? No. Fill the cupcake? You got it. So what we have here is a graham cupcake filled with chocolate and frosted with toasted marshmallow frosting. Oh, and a few chocolate crumbs on top.

Graham Cracker Cake:

1/2 C.   Butter
3/4 C.   Sugar
2          Eggs
1 tsp     Vanilla
3/4 C.   Milk
1 C.      Crushed Graham Crackers
1 C.      Flour
2 1/2 tsp  Baking Powder
1/2 tsp  Salt

Chocolate Filling:

1    Large Hershey Bar  (chopped)
1/3 C.   Heavy Cream

Toasted Marshmallow Frosting:

1  Bag Marshmallow
1/2  C.  Butter
3/4  C.  Crisco
1 tsp     Vanilla
3 C.    Powdered Sugar
3-4 Tbs Cream

Preheat the oven to 350 and line 14 - 16 muffin wells.

In a mixing bowl, fluff together the butter and sugar.

While that is combining, in a seperate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Then combine in your graham crackers. Make sure your crackers are fine and uniformily crumbled, pulse them in a food processor if you need to.

Add the eggs one at a time to the butter/ sugar bowl. Next add the vanilla, scraping the bowl when necassary.Alternatley add the milk and flour mixture to the butter bowl. Once combined fill wells about 2/3 or 3/4 full.  The cakes won't rise too much but if you top the well off it will bubble over. Bake for 22-25 minutes. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes in thwn pan then transfer them to a wire rack to finish.

Chocolate Filling:
Chop the chocolate bar into little pieces and put in a heat proof bowl.  Heat the cream in a sauce pan until it simmers then pour over chocolate. Mix until all the lumps are gone and set aside to rest.

While the chocolate rests, cut out a little well in the cupcake top. Just use a pairing knife and at an angle slice a shallow well in the top. Fill the wells with the chocolate and then put the cut out on top of the chocolate, so it looks like a little hat.

Toasted Marshmallow Frosting:
Pour a whole bag of marshmallows on to a tinfoil lined cookie sheet. Turn the broiler on low and place the marshmallows in the oven. You can bake them for as long as you want. I recommend toasting them golden then smooshing them and putting them back in so they get more toasty.

In a bowl, while the marshmallows are toasting, combine together the butter, crisco, 1 C.powdered sugar and vanilla. Let the marshmallows cool for a minute or two then add them to the frosting base. Immediately pour a cup of powdered sugar on the marshmallows and then beat, if you don't your beaters will be taken over by goo. Then add the rest of your powdered sugar and cream. Once combined top your cupcakes and sprinkle a few bits of chocolate over it.