Double Stout S’more Cupcakes

Have you ever felt like you might have diabetes simply from staring at food? That is how I feel every time I visit Lindsay’s website, the creator of Life Love and Sugar. Not only are her recipes beautiful, but they are sledgehammer made of sugar to the face. And not the this-is-so-sugary-my-mouth-hurts kind of a way. Quite the opposite. Although sweet, you don’t forget the flavors rolling around your tongue. The sugar is like the happy drunk at the party. Certainly everyone cares about what chocolate and vanilla are up to, but sugar takes the party to a whole other level.

One recipe that I wanted to replicate with craft beer was her S’more cupcake recipe. A buttery graham cracker base with a chocolate buttermilk cake and topped with a marshmallow frosting. To be honest, the most exciting aspects of this recipe for me wasn’t integrating the craft beer. Rather, understanding how buttermilk creates a moist texture along with creating a simpler method to cooking eggs whites are what really made this recipe stand out for me. I learned so much from this recipe and I am grateful that Lindsay shared it with the world.

But now I would like to share my take on the S’more Cupcake. I decided to use Green Flash Double Stout along with Dutch chocolate Coco powder to create a really dark and moist cake. Making buttermilk is very easy. Simply take a cup of milk, a teaspoon of lemon juice (or vinegar) , and let sit for 5 minutes. That is it. Buttermilk makes for a extremely moist cake. I also opted out of smothering the cupcake with chocolate syrup and decided to grab a chocolate bar with 70% Cocoa and graham cracker crumbs and zest it over the finished product. I wanted to taste the double Stout in the cupcake and not be overwhelmed by the chocolate and sugar.

Photo by Kyle Valenzuela

I would advise that when creating the graham cracker crust, tread lightly and supervise it at all times. This could be my own insecurities I have towards my no-so-trusty oven, but the fats from the butter could fry up and burn quite fast, leaving you with a pasty goop that sticks to the bottom of your cupcake liners. But if you hit that sweet spot, you get a tasty foundation to your cupcakes. I am very tempted to recreate this recipe using a no bake graham cracker base.

Graham Cracker crust sticking to the Cupcakes Liners

The double stout and the Dutch cocoa make this very rich in flavor. It’s possibly my all-time favorite. When eating this cupcake, I feel the same way that I would if I were dating someone clearly out of my league. It feels wrong to eat it, like you aren’t worthy of its offerings I suppose? Don’t worry, that feeling goes away after the fifth cupcake.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs
• 5 tablespoons of melted butter
• 5 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3/8 (1/4+1/8) cup of Dutch Cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon of Baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk
• 1/2 cup of Grapeseed oil
• 3/4 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 of reduced Green Flash double IPA
• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tater
• Small piece of your favorite chocolate bar
• Graham cracker crumbs

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and prep your cupcake sheet with liners.
• Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well.
• Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoons and press it to the bottom of the cupcake liners
• Bake crust for 4 minutes and set aside
• In a small sauce pan, pour 1 cup of Green Flash double Stout and simmer until the beer has reduced to 1/2 a cup. Let the beer simmer while continuing on to the next steps.
• Whisk together your dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• In a separate large bowl, add egg and sugar and mix well. While mixing, add buttermilk and grape seed oil.
• Add your dry ingredients to your wet batch and continue to pour.
• Take your reduced beer and add vanilla to the batter.
• Pour into the cupcake pan over the crust filling till about 3/4 full. Bake at 300 F for 19–21 minutes. Let cool.
• For icing, combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar (if you like, add 2 tablespoons of marshmallow cream for extra marshmallow flavor).
• Place mix over a sauce pan of simmering water. Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Egg whites should be warm, but be careful not to cook it! Use an electric mixer for 5 minutes until you get stiff peaks.
• After cupcakes cool, Frost cupcakes and add cream cracker crumbs and grate some chocolate over the frosted cupcake.

Originally published at bakingbrew.com.