Christmas Cupcakes

I love Christmas, because it is a really big excuse for me to bake. We do an open house every year so I can bake all the recipes that call my name during the month of December. Unfortunately, this December our party was the 23rd, and my last day off was the 8th. This really meant that I didn't have to do any of the cleaning, P did. It did mean I had to do all my baking after I got home at 6:30pm every night. I made these cupcakes entirely on the evening of the 22nd, and they were still perfect the next day, which is always a good trait for a recipe to have.

The cupcakes are the Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow, from Trophy Cupcakes (via Martha Stewart). I got my inspiration though, from Room for Dessert's version.

What really got me was when I took some in to work on the 23rd, everyone kept saying 'You made cupcakes from SCRATCH?!'. For me, the scary part was the meringue icing. I had never made a meringue that worked, until that night. As you can see, I never did get stiff, glossy peaks with my mixture, but my mixer was starting to smell like burning so I decided to cut my losses and just go with soft peak-ish.

The Cupcake Courier came in hand for storing and serving them. I only brought 9 in to work, so those went in a cookie tin. Work got 9 because the batter (which was very liquid, is that normal for cupcakes?) made 9 more than called for. Of course, I hadn't planned that, so those 9 didn't have the graham cracker bottoms, but they were still tasty, and still got marshmallow meringue goodness on top.

Speaking of amounts of stuff: I only made half the icing recipe, and managed to ice 33 cupcakes just fine. Luckily, I had 4 egg whites hanging around, as I'd made a 4-yolk shortbread earlier. I also did not sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on the cupcakes, because all that mixture went into the crunchy bottoms. The chopped chocolate I used was a mixture of bittersweet and dark.

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 flat teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
80 gr unsalted butter, melted
2 Tablespoons orange juice
150 gr bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the frosting (which can easily be halved from these amounts):
8 egg-whites
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C) degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. Sift sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add in the eggs. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed, until the batter is uniform.
3. In a large bowl, mix together milk, oil, vanilla and boiling water. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing on medium speed until the batter is uniform.
4. Place graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and orange juice in a large bowl; stir until well combined. Check the mixture - if you can take some of it between your fingers and unify it into a shape that doesn’t fall apart and all crumbly - that’s what where looking for. If still too crumbly, add some more juice, spoon by spoon, until you get it right.
5. Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use a tablespoon or the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Place a teaspoon of the chopped chocolate above it. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture and chocolate for topping.
6. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture.
8. Return to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
9. Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.

10. Prepare the frosting: Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes.
11. Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix until combined.
12. Pipe the frosting on top of each muffin. If you don’t feel like piping, place spoonfuls of the frosting on top of each cupcake and arrange it nicely.
13. Slightly burn the frosting using a burner, or put it back inside the oven (see tips).