Gorgeous black cocoa chocolate cupcakes stuffed with graham crackers, layered with a graham cracker butter and frosted with marshmallow-y toasted vanilla meringue.
Gorgeous black cocoa chocolate cupcakes stuffed with graham crackers, layered with a graham cracker butter and frosted with marshmallow-y toasted vanilla meringue.
When I wrote my post on the viral S’mores Layer Cake I went on a rant about how graham crackers are the dominant flavor and not chocolate and I stand by that. That’s why these are called, CHOCOLATE S’mores Cupcakes lol.
The way I made that cake, the sheet cake, my easy S’mores Cookies is very nostalgic in flavor, it tastes like actual s’mores in cake or cookie form. If I’m being honest, they’re quite sweet because graham crackers, milk chocolate and s’mores are bound to be sweet so I loved the idea of doing something that represents a s’more but in a darker, richer and elevated way but not in a nostalgic way.
So I made my fabulous Chocolate S’mores Cake where I take my dark black cocoa cake and layer it with a graham cracker butter and homemade toasted marshmallow fluff. Then I turned it into these cupcakes.
How To Make Chocolate S’mores Cupcakes, Step-by-Step Photos
Chocolate Cupcakes
Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until they’re evenly distributed.
In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugar, eggs and sour cream until they’re well combined and smooth.
Sift the dry ingredients over the wet and whisk just a little – about halfway.
Pour in the hot coffee and whisk until the batter is completely smooth.
Place a graham cracker chunk (or two) on the bottom of each cupcake liner andfill the cupcake liners about ⅔-¾ full. I recommend weighing them so each cupcake has 50 grams of batter.
Bake for 16-18ish minutes, until the tallest part of the cupcake, in the center, springs back when you press on it. If you’re hesitant, give it another minute or so.
Let the cupcakes rest for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove them from the pan.
whisk together sugar, oil and eggswhisk in the yogurt/sour creamadd the dry ingredients, mix halfway and add the coffeecupcake batter completely mixed and smoothgraham crackers on the bottom of the cupcake linerscupcake batter in muffin tinscupcakes finished baking
Graham Cracker Butter
Pulse the graham crackers until they’re completely ground and move to a bowl.
Add the butter and honey and mix until it’s completely combined. It should be a thick but spreadable consistency.
You can cut a hole in the center with a cupcake corer to fill it in with the graham cracker butter or just trim off the top dome and spread the graham cracker butter on top of the bottom part of the cupcake and then place the dome back on top (I did it like this so you get some in every bite!). It’s quite thick so just be gentle with it so you don’t squish/break the cake.
graham crackers mixed with butter and honeygraham cracker butter spread onto cupcake (can also just make a hole and fill it). top of cupcake placed back on top of the graham cracker butter
Toasted Meringue
Whisk sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites over a double boiler.
Sugar has to be fully dissolved in the egg whites before whipping & reaches 170F (77C).
Egg whites and sugar fully whipped into a fluffy meringue, about 10 minutes.
Use meringue to frost the top of the cupcakes and toast them using a culinary torch.
raw egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixeregg whites and sugar cooking over a double boilercooked egg whites with sugar dissolvedMarshmallowy Swiss meringue meringue piped on top of cupcakesmeringue toasted with culinary torch
Expert tips on getting perfect cupcakes
There’s a few things you can do to make sure your cupcakes are perfect.
Don’t reduce the sugar. I know a lot of people do that for some recipes but it alters the texture as well as the flavor.
Weigh the batter for each cupcake with a digital scale. I just place the cupcake pan on the scale with the liners and measure out 50 grams for each cupcake. You should have just enough for 12 cupcakes.
Use an oven thermometer to make sure the oven is heating accurately.
Use a light colored stainless steel muffin tin for even baking.
Fresh coffee is the best – I use Americano for the batter and espresso for the soak.
Read my post on a stable Swiss Meringue if you’re new to meringues!
How To Store Chocolate S’mores Cupcakes
These definitely need to be refrigerated because of the meringue so I recommend placing them in an airtight container and refrigerating them for up to a week. Freeze if it’s any longer than that.
To freeze the cupcakes, place them in an airtight container and then place the container in a freezer bag, squeezing out all the excess air. Bring them back to room temperature by thawing at room temperature for a few hours before serving.
I know no one asked for another s’mores and black cocoa recipe lol but I hope you love these!
If you have any questions, please comment down below – those will get answered much quicker than email or through social media.
If you’ve tried this, I would very much appreciate a star rating or review as well.
Gorgeous black cocoa chocolate cupcakes stuffed with graham crackers, layered with a graham cracker butter and frosted with marshmallowy toasted vanilla meringue.
Preheat the oven to 325F (I use convection cuz my oven runs really hot at the bottom – conventional is also fine) and line 12 muffin tins.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until they’re evenly distributed.
120 grams cake flour, 40 grams black cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, 1/2 tbsp baking powder
In a separate large bowl, whisk the sugar, oil, eggs and sour cream until they’re well combined and smooth.
175 grams granulated sugar, 80 mL canola oil, 1 large eggs, 75 grams sour cream or greek yogurt
Sift the dry ingredients over the wet and whisk them together, just a little – about halfway or so.
Pour in the hot coffee and whisk until the batter is completely smooth and all the dry ingredients are combined. Scrape the edge of the bowl and give it a good mix.
120 mL hot coffee I use Americano
Place 1-2 little chunks of graham crackers on the bottom of each cupcake liner and then fill each cupcake tin about 2/3-3/4 – I measure up to 50 grams.
12-24 small chunks of graham crackers to fit on the bottom of the cupcake
Bake for 16-19 minutes, until the cupcake no longer looks wet and the tallest part, in the center, springs back when you press on it. If you’re hesitant, give it another minute or so.
Let the cupcakes rest for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove them and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
Graham Cracker Butter
Place the graham crackers in a food processor and pulse until they’re completely ground. Move to a bowl.
125 grams graham crackers (1 package/8-9 full sheets) ground up
Add the butter and honey and use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon mix until it’s completely combined. It should be a thick but spreadable consistency.
113 grams salted butter softened, 42 grams honey
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, you can cut a hole in the center with a cupcake corer to fill it in with the graham cracker butter or just trim off the top dome and spread the graham cracker butter on top of the bottom part of the cupcake and then place the dome back on top (I did it like this so you get some in every bite!). It's quite thick so just be gentle with it so you don't squish/break the cake.
Toasted Meringue
Bring a small pot with a little water to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer (keep it on very low heat).
Wipe down your equipment with a tiny bit of vinegar or lemon juice (any edible acid) and then place the sugar and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisking them together.
150 grams granulated sugar, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Add the egg whites to the bowl and whisk the egg whites into the sugar. Place the bowl of egg whites and sugar on top of the simmering water (making sure it doesn’t submerge into the water) – you want the steam to heat the egg whites.
3 large egg whites
Whisk the egg whites frequently so they don’t coagulate around the edge of the bowl. Generally around 5 minutes, the sugar will feel like it’s dissolved in the egg whites but you want to take the egg whites to 175F (80C) in order to get that stable, marshmallowy texture, which is normally around 10 minutes for me. So make sure to check the temperature with a thermometer between the 5-10 minutes (it may take up to 15 minutes).
Once it’s at 175F (80C), turn the stove off, remove the bowl from the simmering pot and place it on the stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium speed for a minute and then increase to medium-high for about 10 minutes.
Add in the vanilla extract and salt and mix, that just until it’s combined, making sure to scrape the edge of the bowl as well. The texture should be thick and marshmallow – not dry.*
Pipe the meringue on top of the cupcakes and just a culinary torch to toast the top of it. You can also top it with some graham cracker crumbs if you want.
Notes
The meringue should be stable enough to last days in the fridge without defalting. I’ve even frozen it and thawed it just fine but if you’re skeptical you can add gelatin to it to make sure. I would just dissolve a little less than a ¼ tsp of gelatin in 1 tsp of cold water. Let it set for a few minutes and then microwave it for 5 seconds. Add it in with the vanilla and salt, mixing just until it’s well combined. It’ll set once it’s refrigerated.
