s'mores cupcakes

This post is long overdue!  Way back in June, we went on a family camping trip with my friend Reggie and her friend Showshan.  I wanted to make something for dessert, and since s'mores are the ultimate camping dessert, I made s'mores cupcakes!  I've actually wanted to make these cupcakes for some time now, after seeing these s'mores cupcakes from Xiaolu at 6 Bittersweets.  But I never had an occasion until now.

Since Reggie's daughter is allergic to dairy, I changed the recipe slightly.  At the bottom of the cupcake was a graham cracker crust, which I made with oil instead of butter.  Then came a moist chocolate cake, with which I substituted soymilk instead of milk.

Then it was all topped with a marshmallow frosting.  The original recipe called for a frosting made with whipped uncooked egg whites, but since I knew we'd be camping and didn't want to have to worry about keeping the cupcakes cool, I made this homemade marshmallow frosting instead.  All it contained was water, gelatin, and sugar - and it tasted exactly like marshmallows!

Once the marshmallow frosting was whipped to the right consistency, I piped it on as fast as I could before it cooled and set.  By the time I piped the last few cupcakes, the marshmallow frosting had become so difficult to pipe, it was like squeezing a giant solid marshmallow through the piping tip!

The final touch was toasting the marshmallow frosting with my creme brulee torch.  I wanted the frosting to be like freshly toasted marshmallows while we were camping, so I even brought my torch along to the campsite! Hope everyone enjoyed them!