AnchorMommy

Gimme S’more! An award-winning recipe & a cupcake coma

August 20, 2009 by Shannon

Photo courtesy Jory Clay Sutton Photography

When I got asked to judge a local fundraiser called the Cupcake Collective, I think my sweet tooth hollered out “YEEEESSSSSSSS PLEEEEEEZE!” before I had time to think. (This tooth is a living, breathing entity that wills my hand to pick up delicious goodies and shove them into my mouth. I swear, I have nothing to do with it.)

Let’s just say that my sweet tooth had no idea what it was in for.

I was asked to taste more than 40 cupcakes. Yes, you read that right — 40+ cupcakes. If I may, I’d like to share with you what I learned from this gluttonous exercise in cake and buttercream consumption.

1. If you are given one half of each cupcake to try when tasting 40+ cupcakes, do not try to be polite and eat the whole half. Take a bite. Throw the rest away, for heaven’s sake.
2. When you get halfway through the tasting process, prepare to start taking some very deep breaths. You may want a chair nearby so you can rest and let the sugar shock take effect.
3. Be prepared to turn your back or hide your face. Your expressions will start to look very pained, and you don’t want the cupcake makers to see you and become offended.

I persevered through those 40+ cupcakes, but I did get a stomachache later. (After I succumbed to the Cupcake Coma — I was only unconscious for one hour — I was completely healed.) Now, I am able to share the recipe for the TASTIEST CUPCAKE OF THE COLLECTIVE! Alisha Donahue won $100 and a baking mix for her S’mores cupcake recipe. Alisha says she pretty much made up this recipe as she went, so the following recipe is a rough approximation. “Be warned,” she adds. “These are MESSY.”

S’more Cupcakes
a.k.a. “who wants to be a hundred dollar-aire cupcakes”

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step one: Graham cracker crust

Mix about a cup of graham cracker crumbs with about a third cup of butter or margarine until moistened and holds its shape when pressed. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake paper and tamp it down firmly with the bottom of a glass. Bake about 6 minutes until crusts are golden around the edges.

Drop a few chocolate chips onto each crust. Let’s say six. These will melt while the cupcakes are baking and help hold the crusts together a little.

Step Two: Chocolate cupcakes

Make your favorite chocolate cake batter. I like the basic chocolate cake recipe from the Joy of Cooking but use whatever you like. Fill the cupcake papers two thirds full. Bake 19 minutes. Let them cool.

Step Three: S’more them up

When the cupcakes are relatively cool, inject the center of each cupcake with marshmallow fluff. Frost them with chocolate frosting. I used canned chocolate frosting, use what you like. Sprinkle coarse graham cracker crumbs on top. Pipe a dollop of marshmallow fluff on top using a pastry bag with a large star tip. Toast the marshmallow using a kitchen torch. (I suppose you could use the broiler? I didn’t try this but I’m sure it would work, though it would probably melt the frosting.) Garnish with a piece of Hershey’s chocolate and a piece of graham cracker.

Photo courtesy Jory Clay Sutton Photography

Excellent work, Alisha!!!

So there you have it. An award-winning recipe with which to kick off your own cupcake tasting party, plus three key tips on how to eat a gazillion of them. Or at least 40. (Just remember tip #3. You see this picture? This is what I’m talking about. I look disgusted or mad, but I assure you…I’m thinking, why oh why didn’t I just take a BITE of the first five? Or ten?)

So, you know. Just be warned. It could get MESSY.