Happy Birthday & S'mores Cupcakes

Wow!  I can't believe how quickly the past two years have gone by.  I have enjoyed sharing my passion of cooking, baking, & sharing all things food with you all!  I only plan to keep sharing and am looking forward to it! Thanks for making it something I enjoy more! I appreciate all of your love and support! :)

I made some cupcakes in honor of my 2 yr "blog birthday"!  After all, it is an accomplishment that should be celebrated right? 

S'mores Cupcakes! Oh my!  They are soooo good!  Of course, they have all the components of a favorite summertime treat of mine!  The bottom of the liner is filled with graham cracker crumbs for the perfect s'mores touch! The rich chocolate cake has the perfect light texture with a huge punch of chocolate flavor.  They are filled with a creamy marshmallow filling and frosted with a graham cracker buttercream!  I mean... seriously!? I don't think there's a better way to celebrate!

Oh! And of course, had to add the zebra liners! Afterall, I kinda made them for me, right? :)

S'mores Cupcakes
adapted from Your Cup of Cake
From Cupboard to Cupboard.com

Chocolate Cakes:
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup boiling water

fine crumbed graham crackers

Marshmallow Cream Centers

4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup marshmallow cream
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar

Graham Cracker Buttercream

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup fine graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 360 degrees.  Line cupcake liners.  I got 32 cupcakes from my batch. (high altitude will get more than the 24 of lower altitudes). Mix sugar, brown sugar, and oil for 3 minutes until smooth.  Add sour cream and vanilla and stir well.  Add eggs one at a time and mix only until incorporated.  In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add dry ingredients and boiling water to sugar mixture alternating between the two.  Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner.  Shake pan to spread evenly.  Fill liners 3/4 full and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on wired rack.

For Marshmallow Cream Centers: Beat cream cheese, marshmallow cream and powdered sugar.  Add more powdered sugar to taste.  This mixture should be kind of runny.  Remember it's made from marshmallow cream and it will thicken in the cupcake! When cupcakes are cooled, cut out a small area from the center of each cake and pipe marshmallow cream into each cupcake.

For Graham Cracker Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and creamy.  Add powdered sugar, vanilla and graham cracker crumbs.  At this point, the buttercream will look like cookie dough.  Add milk a little bit at a time until the buttercream consistency is reached.

Pipe onto cooled, marshmallow filled cupcakes and top with a square of a chocolate bar!

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

Teauna