Happy July 6th! Whoops. If I share these s’mores cupcakes will you forgive me?
I really wanted to say July 4th, but I’m a little late for that. It was actually on purpose because today’s 4th of July, Go USA! Inspired dessert is meant to be made/eaten fresh, and since the barbecue that these babies were meant for was not on the 4th, I had to wait. But, like most things in life, good things come to those who wait.
These cupcakes are very good things.
I was trying to think of what scremed summer! and America! Apple pie, obviously, but you all know my thoughts on pie and fruit desserts in general. Plus, I’ve already made two versions of Apple Pie Ice Cream. As my mind wandered in and out of memories planted by fourths of July past, camping and campfires figured quite prominently. And what goes with a campfire? S’MORES!
S’MORES!
So I figured that cupcakes, inspired by summer’s perfect dessert, would be the best hostess figt and would probably make me some friends at the barbecue.
Slight problem, however. My dear friend has a baby who can’t eat diary or soy. And I try to do things gluten free…so you can see where I’m going.
All the recipes I found or had for graham cracker cupcakes obviously contained crushed graham crackers which don’t fit the aforementioned allergy minefield. Therefore, I decided to recreate the honey-graham flavor for the cupcake base (inspired by the Fijian Honey Cake of yore), stuff them with dark chocolate and top them off with a meringue frosting. S’mores for the allergic.
S’mores for all.
S'more Cupcakes
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup applesauce, unsweetened
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- For the frosting:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla
- Pinch of cream of tarter
- For the rest:
- 1 large chocolate bar
Directions
- Step 1 Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350F. Prep a muffin-pan with 8 cupcake liners.
- Step 2 In a large bowl, combine everything else and beat well. Fill each liner half full, add one chocolate square and then continue to fill until the cups are about ¾ full. Repeat with all the cupcakes.
- Step 3 Bake for approximately 20-30 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean
- Step 4 Allow to cool in the pan for ten minutes until removing from pan to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
- Step 5 Meanwhile make the frosting. Heat the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler over a simmer until sugar is dissolved, about 5-7 minutes.
- Step 6 Move the whites to a stand or hand mixer and beat until stiff and glossy, about 10 minutes. Add the vanilla and cream of tartar.
- Step 7 To assemble: Melt about 4 ounces of the remaining chocolate bar and dip each cupcake into it to create a nice ganache layer. Frost with the meringue.
- Step 8 If you want to really make it s’more-ish, use a crème brulee torch to give it a nice burnt sugar top. Alternatively, place each cupcake under a broiler for no more than 30 seconds to brown the meringue.
