S’mores Cupcakes
Can’t have a summer treat without s’mores right!? Well if you’re short on fire pits then you have got to try making these s’mores cupcakes! Graham cracker cake filled with rich chocolate ganache and then topped with torched meringue, these cupcakes will certainly curb your s’more cravings and you’ll be a hit at any summer BBQ.
About These S’mores Cupcakes With Chocolate Ganache
I absolutely love making s’mores in the summer time. I love scorching my marshmallow and getting all of that smoky flavor. That’s why I love my take on this summer treat in the form of s’mores cupcakes. This s’mores cupcake recipe is made with a graham cracker cupcake that uses actual graham crackers so the flavor is authentic. It’s then filled with a loose chocolate ganache so it almost feels like the melted Hersheys chocolate square. The meringue topping is torched with a blowtorch and the perfect sweet and smoky topping balances it all out.
The Origin of S’mores
There is an aggressive amount of history on marshmallows and Graham crackers which are rather interesting, but I’ll save that history for another day. However, we must thank those history lessons for giving us the ingredients to create s’mores which we have the girl scouts to thank for that! In the 1890’s in New Jersey, roasting marshmallows became a fad and was thought of more of a romantic activity. Soon after, different variations or first iterations of s’mores took to the shelves in the form of Moonpies and Mallomers.
However, it wasn’t until 1927 when the present day s’more was created and published in a girl scout guide book: “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts.” It included a recipe for toasting a marshmallow and sandwiching with chocolate bars between 2 graham crackers. It was originally called Some More which eventually shortened to S’mores. Read all about the extensive history here!
S’mores Cupcakes Ingredients:
- Graham cracker crumbs: Grocery stores now sell already crumbled graham crackers which I love because it makes life easier. Of course you can use the crackers and crush them up finely in either a food processor or in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin.
- Chocolate: I prefer dark chocolate as always for my recipes with chocolate. The cake is sweet and the meringue is sweet, so the bitterness of the chocolate help cut that sweetness. Anything greater than 65% is great.
- Egg whites: For the meringue, definitely use fresh egg whites. Carton egg whites do not whip up as well and you’ll be crying with regret.
Major Allergens Present: Gluten, eggs, dairy
Equipment Needed:
- A blowtorch: You can either buy one from a specialty kitchenwares store or from a hardware store. I promise you they are cheaper and actually better from the hardware store.
- Hand or stand mixer: A mixer will certainly help with making the Swiss meringue, however you can do it by hand with a lot of elbow grease. For this you will use the whip if using a stand mixer and the beaters if using a hand mixer.
- Medium muffin/cupcake tin: Obviously you need a cupcake tin to make cupcakes! Mine is the one that makes 1 dozen. You’ll also want liners for easy clean up.
How to Make S’mores Cupcakes
What Are S’mores Cupcakes Made Out Of?
This s’mores cupcake recipe has three components. The graham cracker cupcakes which uses actual graham crackers to get that authentic graham cracker taste. The cupcakes are then filled with a looser dark chocolate ganache. And finally, the cupcakes get topped off with a torched Swiss meringue.
Make the Graham Cracker Cupcakes
The graham cake is super easy to make until you get to the egg white portion! It’s just a simple matter of combining the right ingredients with your spatula then whisking together in the right order. If you’re using whole graham crackers, make sure to finely grind those up. As for the egg whites, using a hand or stand mixer will certainly help, but I find hand whipping more rewarding and a great work out! Plus my 6 quart mixer is a little big to whip up only 2 egg whites (womp womp).
Make the Dark Chocolate Ganache
Yes this recipe uses a good amount corn syrup comparatively, and yes it makes it amazing. The corn syrup allows the ganache to be softer without adding too much liquid or adding too much sweetness. There are multiple methods to making ganache, and I prefer the simplest one which is boiling the liquid and pouring over the chocolate. If the chocolate doesn’t melt all the way then pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds and whisk whisk whisk.
The key to this ganache is making sure you whisk it vigorously to emulsify the ingredients. This vigorous whisking will make your ganache smooth and silky. If yours comes out anything but perfect, check out my troubleshooting guide at the bottom. I suggest making this the night before so it has time to set.
Hollow and fill the s’mores cupcakes
Can’t fill cupcakes without a cavern to fill! I outline some tips down below for an easier time cutting those centers out, but you can use either an apple corer/ring cutter, melon baller, or a serrated steak knife. Cold cupcakes are definitely better, so I will make the ganache and the cupcakes the night before and allow the ganache to set at room temp and the cupcakes to chill. When hollowing, you want a good amount of filling without completely removing the cake, but don’t hollow out too much where your bottoms and sides are no longer stable.
Once you have your cupcakes all hollowed out, you can dive into filling. Using a pastry bag or spoon, fill the cupcakes just slightly above the top of the cupcake. Just make sure it isn’t spilling out! Set aside while you prepare the meringue.
Prepare the swiss meringue and Frost
There are three types of meringues: American, Swiss, and Italian. Each one is cooked differently. American style is just the eggs and sugar with no cooking and is the least stable. Swiss style has the egg whites and sugar cooked until the sugar dissolves and has a medium stability. And Italian style cooks the sugar to 250*F and is the most stable. Depending on what you’re making depends on what stye of meringue you should use. Since we are just decorating, Swiss works well here.
You simply cook the whites and sugar over a double boiler until the sugar dissolves whisking minimally. Then you whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Done. One thing to watch out for is fat. Fat will discourage the egg whites from whipping up. You can wipe down the bowl and attachements with white vinegar if you’re nervous. For decorating, you can either do a rustic look with just a spoonful on top, or you can try your hand at piping with a piping bag and star tip (or any tip you prefer). Check out my tips below on how to fill and use a piping bag.
Torch and finish the S’mores cupcakes:
I love any excuse to bust out the blowtorch, and I always feel that meringue should be torched. When you are torching the meringue, start off by holding it about 3 inches away and on medium flame until you know how to work it well. Always keep the torch in motion; if you settle in one place it will burn. Evenly torch the meringue by gently moving the flame around the meringue. Careful not to set the cupcake liners on fire! Once you have torched the meringue, you can garnish with chocolate shavings or graham cracker crumbs/crackers.
Help Making S’mores Cupcakes
How to Hollow and Fill Cupcakes:
- Cold cupcakes are easier to hollow out. I prefer to make the cupcakes a day in advanced and let sit, covered in the fridge overnight.
- Use a serrated steak knife, apple corer/ring cutter, or melon baller to hollow out. Leave enough cake for stable sides and bottom, but also hollow enough for enough filling. I find tremendous success with a small ring cutter.
- I usually fill slightly above the cupcake because I love the filling of a cupcake. However, you want to be careful that nothing spills over and out.
How to Make Chocolate Ganache
- Boil the cream but don’t let it boil for too long. Boiling takes the liquid out leaving behind fat. Since a ganache is essentially an emulsification, any alteration in fat to water ratio may make your ganache separate.
- Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and not vice versa. I find that adding chocolate to the pot can cause some of the chocolate to just stick to the sides and burn instead of melting with everything. Once poured, let it sit for about 60 seconds before you start whisking.
- Whisk vigorously. If you whisk too lightly you will not emulsify your ingredients together. You can use a stick blender if you have one.
- Sometimes the liquid is just not hot enough to melt all the chocolate. If this happens to you, just pop it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds then whisk it up.
How to Use a Piping Bag
- Insert the piping tip and cut a hole accordingly. Push some of the bag into the tip to prevent any leakage.
- Fold the the top quarter to third of the bag over and hold the bag there. Spatula your medium into the bag wiping the spatula through the bag.
- Fold the top back over and hold the top of the bag with your non-dominant hand. With large piping bags I find only I will actually twist the end and put under my arm pit for safe keeping.
- Squeeze the center of the bag and twist. This your pressure point and your control point of the bag. The further from the tip, the more strenuous and less control you have over the bag.
- Use the meat of your thumb and your fingers to then squeeze out the contents. Release to stop.
How to Make Swiss Meringue
- Use fresh egg whites as opposed to carton egg whites. Fresh will always whip up better.
- Make sure no fat gets in the bowl or on your whip attachment! Fat will always destroy a beautifully whipped meringue. You can wipe the bowl and attachment with a vinegar dampened paper towel.
- You can’t over-whip Swiss or Italian meringue so turn that mixer on high and let it rip! However, once you have it going it must be kept in constant motion or else it will be less smooth and more chunky. If I’m not quite ready for it yet, I’ll turn my mixer down to 1-2 speed (low).
- When warming the whites and sugar together, just warm it until the sugar is dissolved. Help it along by whisking now and again.
Enhancing These S’mores Cupcakes:
- Use milk chocolate for the ganache instead and cut the dairy by 20%!
- I loved using peppermint patties in my s’mores so try adding some peppermint extract to your ganache.
- I also loved using peanut butter cups so whisking in some peanut butter to taste into the ganache would be a great!
How to Store and Freeze S’mores Cupcakes:
- These are best eaten around room temperature and freshly meringue’d as the meringue will dry out and become somewhat crunchy if left out.
- Loosely cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freeze the graham cracker cupcakes and ganache separately for up to 3 months.
- Store the graham cracker cupcakes wrapped in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and the chocolate ganache for up to 1 month.
Troubleshooting the S’mores Cupcakes:
- My ganache separated! It has separated due to either ingredient imbalance, heating issues, or whisking issues. Solve in this order: (1) whisk vigorously until it comes together and becomes shiny (this will usually work for me). If that doesn’t work then (2) whisk in a little bit of milk and whisk vigorously. And if that doesn’t work then (3) allow to cool then heat up and whisk vigorously or add a little bit of melted chocolate and milk and whisk vigorously.
- My meringue deflated or won’t whip up! You’re either not using fresh whites, fat has come into contact with the whites, or your mixer is too big. You will need to start over, so when you do with fresh whites, clean the bowl with soap and hot water and wipe out with a vinegar dampened towel. Also, your bowl may be too big and the amount of product too small for the whip attachment. Double the recipe and only use half.
Something else going wrong? Reach out and we will troubleshoot together!
S’mores Cupcakes
Equipment
- 12 ea Cupcake tin
- Stand or hand mixer
- Blowtorch
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Cupcakes
- 165 g Granulated sugar
- 100 g Shortening
- 2 ea Egg yolks
- 236 g Whole milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tsp Cinnamon, ground
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- 268 g Graham cracker crumbs
- 2 ea Egg whites
Dark Chocolate Ganache
- 100 g Heavy cream
- 50 g Corn syrup
- 50 g Butter, unsalted
- 114 g Dark chocolate 65% or higher
Swiss Meringue
- 3 ea Fresh egg whites
- 180 g Granulated sugar
Instructions
To Prepare the Graham Cracker Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line your cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
- Using a spatula, cream together the sugar and shortening until evenly combined.
- Add in the egg yolks and mix until combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients and the milk and whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks then fold into your graham cracker cake batter.
- Evenly portion into your cupcake tin about 2/3rds up, and bake for about 20 minutes or until it springs back when poked.
- Allow to cool, preferably in the fridge until cold.
To Prepare the Dark Chocolate Ganache
- Bring the cream and corn syrup to a boil.
- Pour over the chocolate and butter and whisk vigorously until smooth.
- Allow to cool at room temperature until set. This can take a few hours, so I will usually make this the night before.
To Prepare the Swiss Meringue
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the egg whites and sugar.
- Place over a double boiler and warm until the sugar dissolves whisking every so often.
- Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
To Fill and Finish the S'mores Cupcakes
- Using a serrated steak knife, apple corer, or melon baller, hollow out the center of the cupcake and fill with the chocolate ganache.
- Fill a piping bag with a pastry tip and top the cupcake with the Swiss meringue. Alternatively, you can scoop or spoon the meringue on top of the cupcake for a more rustic look.
- Gently and evenly torch with a blow torch.
Nutrition
