It’s an exciting day around here, Adam’s semester is officially over!  He took a final this morning, marking the end of this portion of his schooling.  They finish school early because they have two months off to study for an important exam.  Then they start back again mid-summer, this time on rotation in the hospital!  He’s celebrating by playing poker with the boys and I celebrated by making the boys a batch of cupcakes.  And boy am I glad to have a reason to celebrate, said cupcakes are the recipe I’ve been testing/obsessing over the past few weeks: ‘Smores cupcakes.  The recipe is at the bottom of this post and I totally won’t blame you if you skip right to the end.

For those of you who are still with me, lunch –

I packed a toasted Bagel Thin, topped with a slice of 2% Swiss and Crofter’s Strawberry Fruit Spread,

and a sliced Gala apple.

I don’t think my Biochem test went as poorly as I was expecting, but my nutrition quiz was pretty gosh-darn awful.  It’s too late to really fix my grades for this semester, but I’m excited to work hard the next few weeks just in the interest of feeling better about myself.

When I got home this afternoon I made myself a plate of baby carrots with blue cheese dressing for dipping.

I’m glad I ate a snack, one with a veggie natch, because dinner was a no-go.  I did so much “tasting” while I baked that I ate enough sugar to give myself a migraine!  Whoops; #healthylivingbloggerfail!

But what a way to get a headache…

‘Smores Cupcakes, serves 15

cake ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 2 and 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 and 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 sheets graham crackers (4 rectangles = 1 sheet)

filling ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

frosting ingredients

• 8 oz 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 and 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 10 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

cake directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin pans with 15 liners.
2. Place graham crackers in a baggie and use a rolling-pin or a sturdy cup to crush them into a homogenous mixture with a rough sand texture.
3. Stir together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
4. In a medium bowl, cream together sugar and butter.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Then stir in vanilla.
5. Working in batches, mix flour mixture into wet ingredients.
6. Stir in milk, then fold in crumbled graham crackers.
7. Spoon batter into cupcake pan, filling each liner about 3/4.
8. Bake 20minutes, until tops of cupcakes spring back to the touch. 
9. Set aside to cool.  Cooling can be sped up by placing baked cupcakes into the freezer for 1-2minutes.

filling directions

1. Place sugar and water in a medium pan over medium-high heat.  Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar has completely liquified.  Remove from heat.
2. Place egg white, vanilla, and cream of tartar in a **clean and dry** bowl.  Beat until soft peaks begin to form.  A stand mixer would be preferable, but I’ve definitely done this using a handheld mixer and lots of patience.
3. While mixer is running, carefully stream sugar syrup into bowl.
4. Beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until stiff peaks form and mixture is glossy; 7minutes.

frosting directions

1. Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Melt, microwaving for 30second intervals and stirring in between.  You want to stop heating when the chips are mostly melted, as they will continue to melt as you stir.  This step can also be done in a double boiler.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
3. Pour melted chocolate – it only needs to cool for a moment or two – into frosting.  Beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is incorporated.

assembly directions

1. Lay cooled cupcakes on a flat surface.
2. Use a spatula to transfer filling to a pastry bag fitted with a medium piping tip.  A plastic bag with the corner will work as well, but be carefull not to cut the hole too large or the pressure will force out the piping tip.
3. Push tip flush into the top of a cupcake and pipe until you feel increased resistance.  Repeat, piping 3 holes into each cupcake.  It’s ok if you make some craters because the thick frosting will cover them up.
4. Apply frosting liberally.
5. Consume!

Note – you will probably have leftover frosting and filling, even after all of the cupcakes have been assembled.  Both are fabulous stirred into plain Greek yogurt or eaten with a spoon 🙂