S'mores Cupcakes

If you are a baker that is as obsessed as we are with the powerful combination of marshmallow, chocolate, biscuit and MORE chocolate then you are going to love these cupcakes! The icing is a delicious home-made marshmallow fluff and the chocolate ganache filling is half-milk chocolate and half-dark chocolate, making it extra-specially delicious.

For this recipe, you are really going to need two pieces of Tala equipment: the Cooks’ Blow Torch (for the delicious, smokey bonfire-scorched frosting) and the Cupcake Corer (for the luscious chocolate ganache core).

Please note that the marshmallow fluff frosting contains partially cooked egg whites. Anyone with health concerns, or who is pregnant, should not consume eggs that have not been thoroughly cooked.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

180g self-raising flour

100g caster sugar

50g cocoa powder

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt

2 medium size free range eggs

135ml sunflower oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

120ml semi-skimmed milk

For the chocolate ganache filling:

100g milk chocolate, finely chopped

100g dark chocolate, finely chopped

150ml double cream

5 biscuits, crushed (Hobnobs or Digestives work best)

For the marshmallow frosting:

3 medium egg whites

150g caster sugar

¼ tsp cream of tartar

¼ tsp vanilla extract

Equipment

12 cupcake cases

12-cup bun tin

Large heatproof mixing bowl

Medium heatproof mixing bowl

Whisk

Large silicone headed spatula

Cupcake corer

2 disposable icing bags (one fitted with a large open round tip)

Kitchen scissors

Mini palette knife

Saucer/plate

Bain marie (saucepan with boiling water)

Handheld electric mixer

Tala Cooks’ Torch

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius fan (302 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Line the bun tin with cupcake cases.
3. Place the dry cupcake ingredients (sugar, flour, salt, bicarb and cocoa powder) in the large mixing bowl and whisk briefly to combine and break up any lumps.
4. Place the eggs, oil and vanilla extract in the small bowl and mix with the whisk until smooth.
5. Tip the eggs and oil mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with the silicone-headed spatula to make a firm dry dough.
6. Add the milk bit by bit, mixing after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
7. Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake cases.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes until domed and risen.
9. Allow to cool in the tin before decorating.
10. Heat the cream to boiling point (I did this in the small mixing bowl using the microwave) then add the chocolate and stir until smooth.
11. Use the cupcake corer to ‘core’ all of the chocolate cupcakes. Discard the removed scraps of cake.
12. Transfer two tablespoons of the chocolate mixture to a disposable piping bag and snip off the end of the bag with kitchen scissors.
13. Fill the cavity made in each cupcake with chocolate mixture, refilling the piping bag when necessary.
14. Using the mini palette knife, spread the top of each cupcake with the remaining chocolate mixture.
15. Place the biscuit crumbs on a saucer or plate, then pick up each cupcake and roll the top gently in biscuit crumbs so that they stick to the chocolate and the top of each cake is completely covered in crumbs.
16. To make the marshmallow frosting, place the sugar and egg whites in a heatproof bowl suspended over a bain marie (a saucepan containing boiling water – take great care when carrying out this procedure).
17. Keep the bain marie at a low heat and stir continually for about 5 minutes or until the sugar and egg mixture becomes smooth and the grainy texture of the sugar crystals disappears. Turn off the heat.
18. Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and allow to cool on the side for five minutes.
19. Add the cream of tartar and the vanilla extract and whisk with a hand-held electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
20. Transfer the mixture to the piping bag with the round open tip nozzle and pipe swirls on top of every cupcake, pausing to refill the bag every now and then.
21. Following the instructions on the Tala Cooks’ Blow Torch, gently torch each swirl until you reach the desired level of ‘toastiness’. How long you toast for is really a matter of personal choice – whether you like a gentle golden glow, or prefer ‘full bonfire’ flavour is up to you. Perhaps you like to offer both and something in between. Serve immediately and eat within a few hours. The marshmallow frosting is good for a few hours but will not last overnight, so it may be best to only ice as many as you need.