S'mores cupcake: Mark Davis

S’mores cupcake: Mark Davis

The folks at Society Bakery have the fundamentals of perfect cake-making down — densely fluffy textures infused with rich flavor under velvety frosting. However it is constant creativity — the unwillingness to ever rest on laurels — that makes these sweets such standouts.

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A couple weeks ago owner Roshi Muns welcomed the Advocate gang — writer Whitney Thompson, photographer Mark Davis and art director Jynnette Neal — for a photo shoot for the upcoming July issue. Around the same time we were there, so were producers from the Food Network, who managed to secure a recipe for the delectable S’Mores Cupcakes, which you can find after the jump. Society Bakery has a location on Lower Greenville,  3426 Greenville Ave., but there also is a shop closer to our neighborhood, inside Medical City Hospital, 7777 Forest Lane.

GRAHAM CRACKER CAKE
12 paper muffin cups
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (about 15 whole crackers ground in processor)
½ cup flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
Pinch salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk graham crumbs, flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt in medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in vanilla.

Add graham-cracker mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the graham-cracker mixture.

Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center come out clean, which should be about 22 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack and cool completely.

GANACHE
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped
½ cup (scant) heavy whipping cream

Place chocolate in a medium sized bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan, and then pour over chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, and then stir until smooth. Let ganache cool until it is lukewarm.

CUPCAKES
12 Graham Cracker Cakes (above)
¾ cup plus one 7-ounce jar marshmallow crème
Ganache (above)
Nonstick vegetable spray
12 1-inch pieces broken graham crackers for garnish

Push an apple corer about 1 inch into the top of each cupcake, removing cake and forming a hole.

Spoon ¾ cup marshmallow crème into a piping bag and pipe into the holes in the cupcakes. Spread 2 teaspoons ganache over each cupcake. Let stand at room temperature for at least 8 hours.

Set broiler to low. Coat rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Spoon dollops of marshmallow crème onto the sheet, and then broil until slightly charred, for about 1 to 2 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on them the entire time, as they will brown very quickly.

Spoon a dollop of charred crème over each cupcake and garnish with a piece of graham cracker.

Yield: 12 cupcakes