Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Marshmallow

I've heard numerous raves about Trophy Cupcakes, unfortunately Seattle's a little out of my reach. But just my luck, Martha Stewart once again came to my rescue! On her website I found a fabulous recipe for one of their most famous cupcakes, the chocolate graham cracker cupcake with marshmallow frosting (basically a smore). Plus, I've been itching to use a new blow torch that we've had lying around the house. Could perfection come in any more obvious a package? 
The recipe seemed a little strange to me, calling for ingredients such as boiled water and vegetable oil and I was inclined to using a typical chocolate cake recipe, but I decided to give it a try and I was delightfully surprised. The cupcakes turned out wonderfully, with a crispy bottom, a moist chocolate cake with unbelievable frosting! The frosting, OH the frosting! I loved it because it wasn't overly sweet and it was sticky in your mouth and so undeniably gorgeous. The recipe for the frosting yielded much more than I could ever use on the amount of cupcakes the recipe made, so I halved the recipe below, but I managed to do good with my extras and turned them into white chocolate, cinnamon, and almond meringues YUM (recipe and post coming soon)!

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Yields: 24 Cupcakes

Found at Martha Stewart, courtesy of: Jennifer Shea

Printable Recipe

For the cake:

2 cups and 2 tbsn. sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup and 1 tbsn. cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk (I used 2%)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup of boiling water

For crust:

1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, about 20 squares

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

9 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the marshmallow frosting: 

(I halved the recipe for you guys since I had more than enough to frost the cupcakes)

4 large egg whites

1 cup of sugar

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners and set aside. Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and mix together. In a large bowl mix the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry, making sure everything is well incorporated. Next add the boiling water and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Stir until well combined. Add 1 tbsn. of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake cup and pack them in using the bottom of a small cup. Next, sprinkle 2 tsp. of the chopped chocolate bits into each cup and then bake for about 5 minutes or until the graham crackers are golden. Remove from the oven and then fill them 3/4 full with the cake batter. Return to the oven and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.

For the frosting, place the whites, sugar and tartar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a pot of simmering water and whisk constantly until sugar has dissolved and the eggs are warm to the touch. Transfer the bowl back to the machine and whisk, starting on low speed then eventually moving to high speed. Whisk until glossy peaks form, about 5 - 7 minutes. Add vanilla, mix until combined. Now frost your cupcakes! You can spoon the mixture on or use any tip you like. You can also either broil the cupcakes to toast the marshmallow or use a blow torch (which I used). Enjoy!

After their tan: