Smore's Cupcakes

The Smore's cupcake is the fifth cupcake that I made to go in a six cupcake box inspired by American flavours for my boyfriend's birthday. The Smore's cupcake will go with a Pecan Pie Cupcake, a Mississippi Mud Pie cupcake, a Boston Cream Pie cupcake an Oreo cupcake and a Key Lime Pie cupcake. While thinking about different cupcakes I could make to go with the trios inspired by a Walt Disney World dessert me and my boyfriend had, I came across the website for the Stateside Candy Co. I saw I could buy Graham Crackers from them, which is something I have never been able to try living in England. I knew I had to incorporate them into a cupcake so I decided to make a Smore's cupcake. I did eat one or two of the Graham Crackers once I opened the box, they are tasty, almost as good as the cheese-its I'm addicted to when I go to America. I wish I could get them here. The cupcake has a graham cracker crust, there are graham cracker crumbs mixed into the cupcake batter. It has a vanilla buttercream frosting, decorated with half a Graham Cracker, a toasted marshmallow, a square of Lindt chocolate and a few Graham Cracker crumbs.

Smore's Cupcake Recipe

Makes 12

120 grams of Graham Crackers crushed into crumbs

2 1/2 tsp melted butter

1 tsp baking powder

150 grams plain flour

a pinch of salt

180 grams unsalted butter, cubed and soft

150 grams packed light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

150 ml milk

1. Preheat oven to 180'C/375'F/Gas Mark 4. Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases.
2. Mix 3/4 of the Graham Cracker crumbs with melted butter. Place 1 tsp into each cupcake case.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the remaining Graham Cracker crumbs and mix well.
4. Put cubed butter, sugar and vanilla into a bowl and beat using a hand mixer or a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. 
6. Pour in a third of the dry ingredients and beat slowly to incorporate into the mixture.
7. Add half of the milk and beat well.
8. Add another third of the dry ingredients, beat, then add the last half of the milk and beat again.
9. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until everything is combined.
10. Put the mixture into the cases on top of the Graham Cracker crust.
11. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until springy to the touch.
12. Cool for 5 minutes inside the cupcake tin, then place on a cooling rack.

Buttercream Frosting

(For best results use a hand mixer or free standing mixer. If you have neither of these, you may need to beat the mixture a little longer to achieve a thick consistency for piping.)

110 grams butter

1/4 tsp of salt (if using unsalted butter)

250 grams icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp whipping cream 

1. In a bowl beat the butter until it is smooth, add the salt if you are using it. 
2. Add half of the icing sugar a quarter at a time, beating after each addition. 
3. Add vanilla.
4. Add one tbsp of whipping cream and continue beating. 
5. Add remaining icing sugar a quarter at a time while beating. Add cream and beat until you achieve the consistency you want for piping.
6. Pipe onto the cupcakes however you would like.
7. Toast a marshmallow by putting it on a skewer and holding it over the flame of a gas hob. Or use a blowtorch if you have one, I don't. Leave the marshmallow to cool while you place half a Graham cracker on top of the cupcake, and place a square of any chocolate of your choosing on top too. Finally add the marshmallow and a sprinkling of Graham Cracker crumbs and your Smore's cupcake is ready to go.

The finished box of American Flavours cupcakes.

Mississippi Mud Pie Cupcakes

This recipe is inspired by Mississippi mud pie, which was one of the desserts on the American flavours dessert trios my boyfriend and I had at the Wave restaurant in Walt Disney World. I wanted the cupcake to take inspiration from the mud pie but still keep the aesthetic of a cupcake. It is a moist chocolate cake with a layer of bourbon biscuits at the bottom. It has a swirl of chocolate buttercream on top and a spoonful of melted dark chocolate to be the mud on the cupcake, and it is finished with mini marshmallows. It will be going with a Pecan Pie Cupcake, a Key Lime Pie cupcake, a Boston Cream Pie cupcake, an Oreo cupcake and a Smore's cupcake.

Mississippi Mud Pie Cupcakes Recipe

The cake mix is from my Love Food, cupcakes and muffins book that I bought from WH Smith. 

Makes 12

8 tbsp soft butter

100 grams caster sugar

150 grams self raising flour

2 large eggs

2 tbsp cocoa powder

25 grams plain chocolate (70% cocoa) melted 

 50 grams bourbon biscuits

2-3 tbsp butter (to rub into the biscuits)

1.  Preheat your oven to 180'C/350'F/Gas Mark 4. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake cases.
2. Crush the bourbon biscuits in a bag using a rolling pin so they are evenly crushed. Place the crumbs into a bowl and rub the butter into them until most of the biscuit have butter on them. Spoon a little of the mixture into each cupcake case and press down with the spoon to create a base.
3. Put the butter, sugar, flour, eggs and cocoa in a large bowl and using an electric hand whisk or a wooden spoon, beat them together until smooth.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cases filling them 3/4 full. 
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until springy to the touch.

Chocolate Butter Cream and Chocolate Topping

110 grams butter

1/4 tsp salt (if you are using unsalted butter)

200 grams icing sugar

50 grams cocoa powder (sieved)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp whipping cream

1. Beat the butter until it is smooth, add the salt if you are using it.
2. Sieve together the icing sugar and cocoa powder then add a half of the mixture to the butter a quarter at a time. Beating after each addition.
3. Add vanilla extract now to add an extra depth of flavour to your chocolate buttercream. 
4. Add one tablespoon of the cream and continue beating. 
5. Add remaining icing sugar and cocoa powder mixture a quarter at a time, beating slowly.
6. Add cream until you have the right thickness for you to pipe onto the cupcakes. 
7. Using a nozzle of your choice pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes.
8. Melt 200 grams of dark chocolate and slowly drizzle it over the cupcakes, adding any decoration you wish. I used mini marshmallows.

The finished box of American Flavours cupcakes.