Monday, May 6, 2013

S'mores cupcakes

I'm willing to bet most of us have a pinterest board somewhere just full of luscious looking desserts and recipes that we plan to try. I have several.  Not that I am necessarily the one who will try them out. You know I live with a man who bakes right? I am one lucky girl:>)
So, back in January our church had a silent auction to help fund a mission trip to Africa for a group of our young mom's. They are going to help out with some building projects, and they are there right this minute doing what they can.  Earl decided that he would auction off a Dessert of the Month.  It would give him the chance to try some new recipes without the downside of us gaining a ton of weight by eating all those delicious new recipes. The winner gets a dessert each month for a year.
Enter the Pinterest board. Oh he has had fun! The lucky bidder is happy as a clam every month and we get to try some new goodies without being overwhelmed with too much to eat.
Aprils D.O.M  were S'mores cupcakes.  He printed off the recipe, whipped up a batch....and they were so bad he had to throw them away. I kid you not, it was not cooks error, there was something wrong with those cupcake. Very wrong.
Proof that just because something looks gorgeous in a photo it doesn't mean you will want to eat it.
But he liked the concept, it was a great concept. Graham cracker crust, chocolate cake, melty chocolate ganache on top of the cupcake and a light, fluffy meringue on top toasted to perfection with his creme brulee torch. So he switched out the chocolate cake recipe for a new one and used his favorite Italian meringue recipe for the top.  Success! These are so good, and not as much trouble to make as they sound like. Sure, they have several components but none are hard to make and the results are worth it.
The cake recipe itself comes from a website called The Best moist chocolate Cake, the batter may be the thinnest cake batter I have ever made, but it works and it really is moist and the chocolate flavor is superb. Use whatever graham cracker crust recipe you have and just put a thin layer in the bottom of the cupcake paper, for the ones I made today, I didn't even bother and I didn't miss it, but if you must have it, know that crushed graham crackers sprinkled over the ganache would work too.
The ganache is simply a 10 oz package of chocolate chips and a cup of heavy cream melted together while you stir it on top of the stove. Easy as can be.  Bake the cupcakes, cool, dip the tops in the ganache let it set up a bit and pipe Italian meringue on top in big swirls. The recipe that Earl uses is  Julia Child's Italian meringue, but you could probably put a dollop of marshmallow cream on top and toast it. Use a little kitchen torch and these are ready  to share. Victoria declared these the best cupcakes that she had ever eaten, I don't know about that, but they are pretty darn good:>)
Have you tried anything from your Pinterest recipe board lately? Any failures or favorites?

8 comments:

  1. Oh Yummy! They look delicious! I pin my recipes from From Harvest To Table, but before I do, I test them out and make sure they taste good. One of my sisters always reads them and plays editor for my in case I goof up and leave a measurement out or something.
    Hugs,
    Penny
    p.s. that was some lucky winner, getting a dessert every month from Earl!

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  2. I've always wanted to know what s'mores are?

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  3. I have to make sure Julianne sees this post. She won't believe her Uncle Earl had a cake failure...hmm, I guess I should clarify.

    She has tried baking a few cakes, with recipes from the internet, that were total flops. She has a cake-making phobia now, though I've assured her that it was most likely the recipe, not the chef. I think she'll feel a little better about trying cake again if she reads this.

    That said, though, HOW FRUSTRATING is it to go to all that effort and have to pitch it!?! I love the inspiration of pinterest, but it's always a gamble to try the recipes. Usually works out, but you just never know.

    I'm not surprised Earl managed to create it himself-I'm sure it was better than the inspiration ever was.

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  4. Lucky, lucky person! What a great prize to win!

    Those do look delish! Yes, I make quite a few things from my pinterest boards. I always read the comments though. Lots of times will say what went wrong and others will offer suggestions etc. Sometimes I read the comments and decide NOT to make something :)

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  5. Oh those cupcakes look so delish! I'm sure the winner looks forward each month to see what sort of dessert they will be receiving. I'm not of a Pinterest person!! I simply do not have time to spend time there plus read blogs etc. So I have to make a choice. I get lots of ideas from the few blogs I enjoy.

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  6. O, dear....they are so beautiful. I know they must be delicious.
    Like few others, I don't do too much Pinterest....I actually forget about it. Just so busy right now, I guess.
    I have tried a few recipes and several of them didn't turn out very good.:(

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  7. I absolutely love the Dessert of the Month idea as a fundraiser! And that cupcake looks DELICIOUS!

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  8. Yeah, that was a great idea for an item to sell...I hope someone donated what the value of it is.
    Bless those young mothers! That takes some bravery!
    Your new improved cupcake sounds and looks super tasty!!

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