Phenomenal Phoods

S'mores Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the chocolate ganache:

• 8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (I like the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate bars)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon butter

For the cupcakes:

• ½ cup butter (softened)
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup half & half
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 12 Ghirardelli chocolate squares

For the marshmallow buttercream:

• ½ cup butter
• 10 ounces mini marshmallows (melted)
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

For the chocolate ganache:

1. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Microwave the heavy cream and butter until just starting boil. Pour over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir to combine and refrigerate until ready to pipe. It should not be too hard but should be solid enough to pipe. This took about an hour and a half for me. If it gets too hard, you can just remove it from the fridge for about 30 minutes and use a mixer to mix it up until it is smooth and ready for piping.

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake papers.
2. Combine the butter and brown sugar with a mixer until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing just until combined.
4. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
5. Add the half & half and the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture in 3 alternating additions with your mixer on low speed, mixing just until combined.
6. Fill the cupcake papers about 3/4 of the way full and bake at 350 degrees F. for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. My oven took about 17 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

For the marshmallow buttercream:

1. Use a hand or stand mixer to beat the butter until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
2. If you are using large marshmallows, cut them into quarters. Place the marshmallows in a large, microwave safe bowl and microwave until just melted and starting to brown, about a minute and a half. Just keep a close eye on it so they don't overflow your bowl.
3. Add the melted marshmallows, icing sugar, milk and vanilla to the bowl with the butter and mix on low just until combined. Turn the speed to high and mix for several minutes until light and fluffy. It will be fairly stiff so you will want to use a large, circular icing tip for piping.

To assemble the cupcakes:

1. Use a knife to cut out a small circle in the top of each cupcake. I made these small because I don't like a lot of filling, but you can make them as large as you like.
2. Pipe the chocolate ganache into the holes in the cupcakes and in a thin layer on top of each cupcake.
3. Pipe with a generous amount of the marshmallow buttercream. Sprinkle with some graham cracker crumbs and top with a Ghirardelli chocolate square.