I know for most of us, some of our fondest summer memories as children are sitting around a campfire late at night trying to scare our friends with scary stories we’ve told a million times before. At every one of these fires, someone bought with them the quintessential graham crackers, chocolate bars and jumbo marshmallows. Of course I’m talking about s’mores.

Today, I’m going to show you how to make some amazing s’mores cupcakes without needing to find that perfect stick for roasting and a fire that’s a little more tolerable for hot Florida afternoons.

For the cupcakes you will need:

  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 1 box chocolate cake mix
  • 1 (12 oz) bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ¾-1 cup whipping cream
  • yellow food coloring
  • red food coloring
  • 2 cans white frosting
  • 8 egg whites
  • 2 cups sugar
  • ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve from a box of whole crackers)
  • 5 tbsp (melted) butter
  • ¼ cup of sugar
  • black or aluminum cupcake liners
  • 1 chocolate bar (optional)
  • graham crackers (optional)
  • Kitchen torch (optional)

For the campfire (because I mean come on, what’s a s’more without a campfire) make your chocolate cake mix according to the box instructions. Let cool completely. To make the two toned frosting for the flames, I used my Wilton decorator pro. You can do this pretty easily with decorator bags, it might be a little tricky with the ziplock bag. Your going to add a good amount of red food coloring to one jar of frosting. Mix well to make sure there isn’t some stray white frosting at the bottom of the can. Mix the yellow food coloring and a drop or two of red to the 2nd frosting can to create a yellow/orange color. Carefully spoon the red frosting onto the far right of your decorator bag. Now add a spoonful of the yellow frosting to the far left. This is going to make the frostings sit side-by-side. Try to fill the bag one spoonful at a time as to not make the colors fall on top of each other. You will want it to look something like this:

I used the 1M tip and using the star technique. Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle. squeeze a small amount of icing onto the cupcake. Release the bag so you are no longer squeezing out icing and pull the bag straight up. It takes about 10-12 of these dollops to cover the top of the cupcake completely.

Now for the s’more cupcakes…In a food processor (or for you infomercial junkies like myself, pull out your Magic Ninja) and break down about 6 graham crackers. You need 1 1/2 cups of crumbs. Once you have your crumbs, add the melted butter and sugar. Mix well. Add about 1 tbsp of the crumbs to each cupcake liner. Using the back of the spoon, or something flat like a shot glass, firmly pack the crumb mixture into the liners to create a graham cracker crust.

Add a few chocolate chips to each cupcake liner. Make the yellow cake mix according to the box instructions. Cool completely.

While the cupcakes are baking/cooling, in a small sauce bag bring your whipping cream to a low boil. Be sure to stir consistently so it does not scorch the bottom of the pan. Once the cream is warmed, remove from heat and slowly stir in the chocolate chips. Whisk until the chips are melted completely and you have a smooth rich texture.Using a small paring knife, cut a small whole about 1/2 way down the cupcake and add a the chocolate ganache filling.

For the marshmallow/meringue frosting, in a double broiler (or I put a plastic mixing bowl over top of a small pot with boiling water) add your egg whites, sugar and creme of tartar. Whisk the mixture consistently until it reaches 160 degrees. Now I wish more than anything I owned a stand mixer because this next step would have been MUCH easier. Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, or the high creme setting of a hand mixer, pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and mix until stiff peaks form. It will expand so use a larger mixing bowl to be safe. This takes about 15 minutes to find a comfortable place to sit.

Completely cover the cupcake with your marshmallow frosting. Using a kitchen torch, lightly roast the top of the marshmallow until it is a light golden brown. Please be cautious when doing this! Leave the cupcakes flat on your counter or cutting board just in case it starts to melt so you don’t burn yourself.

Using your left over chocolate ganache, drizzle a small about from a spoon onto the cupcake top. Add a small chocolate square and piece of graham cracker. Voila, your s’mores are ready to go!

For a little bonus for work, everyone month my friend Erin of Love At First Bite Cupcake Shoppe helps to organize a cupcake themed bakesale to benefit a local charity. Everyone in the office loves it and we help to give a little something back to the local community. I definitely suggest trying it out at your office too.