Toasted S’mores Cupcakes

If you plan on making the marshmallows, make them a day ahead. Lightly spray an 8×8 pan and coat it with the powdered sugar and corn starch mixture. Save the excess.

Place the gelatin and 1/3 cup water in the bottom of the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

In a medium-sized saucepan, mix together the other 1/3 cup of water, sugar, salt, and corn syrup. Using a candy thermometer, heat the mixture over medium heat until it reaches 240F. Mix it every now and then until it reaches that point.

Add the hot sugar syrup to the gelatin and crank your mixer up to high speed. It will start to get white and glossy after about 5 minutes (mix in the vanilla at this point) but keep mixing it until it forms stiff peaks and strings start to pull away from the sides of the bowl. This will take about another 5 minutes.

Quickly pour the marshmallow mixture into the prepared pan. Lightly coat a spatula with some non-stick spray and spread it out as even as you can. Dust the top of the marshmallows with some of the excess powdered sugar and corn starch. Let it sit out uncovered overnight.

When they’re ready, turn them out onto a cutting board and cut into equal cubes. I recommend using a large knife and dusting it with some powdered sugar and corn starch between each cut.

With your bowl of powdered sugar and corn starch handy, coat the sides of the marshmallows and place them in a sifter to shake out the excess powder. You should be left with about 18 marshmallows so you’ll have extras to snack on!

Preheat your oven to 375F and line a cupcake tin with 11 liners.

Mix together the hot water and espresso in a measuring glass and set aside.

Whisk together the oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. Dump in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso mixture and whisk to combine. The batter will be pretty thin.

Evenly distribute the batter between the 11 liners, each about 3/4 full.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While those are cooling, make the buttercream.

Using your mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Make sure they’re both at room temperature, otherwise you’ll end up with a lumpy buttercream.

Mix in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, then the vanilla, then the graham cracker crumbs.

To assemble, hollow out the center of the cupcakes (make sure they’re completely cooled before doing so). You can use a small knife or a cupcake corer. Using a small sandwich bag, spoon in some of the marshmallow fluff, snip off a corner, and inject it into the hollow cupcakes.

Pipe on the buttercream to cover the hole. I used a French star tip, but you can use any large piping tip or just snip off the corner of a ziplock bag.

Place the cupcakes in the refrigerator while you make the chocolate topping. Combine the chocolate chips and oil in a small dish and microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth.

Spoon the chocolate on top of each cupcake, allowing some to drip down. If you aren’t going to toast the marshmallows, you can top each cupcake with a homemade or store-bought marshmallow and you’re done!

But to add toasted marshmallows, return the cupcakes to the fridge while you prep the marshmallows. Using a toothpick, poke a marshmallow and gently torch the sides using a kitchen torch. Do so very lightly, otherwise it will be too hot and melty for the cupcake. Carefully remove it from the toothpick and place on top of the cupcakes.

If you aren’t serving these right away, leave the marshmallows off until you’re ready. Otherwise, they can get a bit stale in the fridge.