52 Weeks of Baking

(This week’s recipe came from the awesome blog How to Eat a Cupcake.)

So last week’s cookies went over pretty well with my coworkers, but I decided this time around, I needed to step it up a bit and do something a little more dramatic. So I decided cupcakes would be the way to go. I trolled around on the Internet for a while, looking for an exciting cupcake recipe when I found the S’mores Cupcakes at How to Eat a Cupcake. They looked pretty simple to bake, but were showstoppers once decorated. Winner!

The recipe started with crushing up graham crackers. My food processor unfortunately is in storage right now, so instead I filled up plastic zip-top bags with crackers and rolled them with my rolling pin:

The graham cracker crumbs were mixed with flour, baking powder and salt. Butter and sugar were creamed together in the mixer and four eggs were added one at a time, followed by some vanilla. The graham cracker crumb/flour mixture was added, alternating with milk. Finally, mini chocolate chips were added to the mixture:

The batter was doled out into cupcake tins and baked for roughly 18 minutes until they were nicely browned:

Once the cupcakes were cooled, I went to work mixing eight egg whites with sugar over a double boiler. Once this had reached a temperature of 160 degrees F, it was transferred to my stand mixer which was fitted with the whisk attachment, and whisked for about ten minutes until it was light and fluffy and spreadable:

I put the marshmallow-y mixture into plastic bags and cut off the tip to form a makeshift piping bag. Each cupcake got a generous swirl of meringue, a dusting of crushed graham cracker crumbs and a square of Hershey’s chocolate:

I think they came out quite cute:

I had a ton of the meringue left over, so I thought I’d make myself a little snack:

These cupcakes went over very well at my work. One of my coworkers remarked that they were better than Crumbs, which is a highly regarded bakery in the city. Quite the compliment!

It was quite an adventure getting them there. I take a bus from where we are temporarily staying in New Jersey into Port Authority in New York City. From there, I walk about three blocks to my job. On the walk, as I was stopped at a crosswalk, a guy leaned over my cupcake carrier (which is clear plastic and see-through) and said, “Are those cupcakes? Is that chocolate in there?” to which I replied in the affirmative.
“Are they for a party?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m taking them to work, just because.”
“I wish I was at your job!”
This prompted the guy on the other side of me to ask, “Can I have one?” I probably would have given him one if I could have gotten that carrier open with one hand, which I couldn’t. So I told him that unfortunately, I needed them all for my coworkers.
“Let’s just follow her to her job!” the first guy said.
Further up the street, where people lurk, waiting to hand you a flyer or ask you, “Hey, do you like comedy?” I was confronted by yet another person.
“Hey! Do you like come…whoah! Cupcakes! Those look awesome! Enjoy!”
So, word to the wise. If you don’t want people to hand you flyers, carry cupcakes.

This week one of my coworkers requested a baked good with caramel, so I found something that looks pretty awesome. More next weekend.