S'mores Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 Cups A.P. Flour
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
3/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
3/4 Tsp. Salt
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Warm Water
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Cupcake Directions

• Fill Cupcake Liners and preheat oven to 350.
• Sift together Cocoa, Sugar, Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Poweder & Salt.
• Add Eggs, Water, Buttermilk, Oil and Vanilla. Mix until combined and smooth.
• Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until combined.

Frosting Ingredients
2-3 Sticks Butter
1 Pound (2 cups) Powdered Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
16 oz Marshmellow Fluff

Frosting Directions

• Cream the butter on high until light and fluffy.
• Add the sugar 1/4 at a time.
• Beat in Vanilla until encorporated
• Dump in Fluff and mix well.

I sprinkled some crushed graham cracker crumbs to the top of the cupcake and placed a Hersheys square in the middle, for that authentic campfire s'mores taste.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Cupcake Ingredients
2 1/2 Cups A.P. Flour
2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Baking Cocoa
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Sticks butter [ Room Temperature]
5 Large Eggs
1 Cup Buttermilk [ I substituted regular milk]
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Red Food color

Cupcake Directions

• Fill cupcake liners and preheat oven to 350 Degrees
• Combine Flour, Cocoa, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt. Sift Three times.
• Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg.
• Add 1/4 of the Dry ingredients to creamed mixture, then 1/4 milk, alternating until combined.
  
• Mix in vanilla and food coloring.

Frosting Ingredients
2-3 Sticks Butter
1 Pound (2 cups) Powdered Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
16 oz Marshmellow Fluff

Frosting Directions

• Cream the butter on high until light and fluffy.
• Add the sugar 1/4 at a time.
• Beat in Vanilla until encorporated
• Dump in Fluff and mix well.
  

I had originally planned to use a Cream Cheese frosting for these cupcakes, but was left over with an abundance of Marshmallow frosting from the S'mores cupcakes so decided to add a few drops of food coloring and use up the rest of the Marshmallow frosting.

I had never actually tasted a red velvet cupcake before, so was unsure as to how they were supposed to actually taste. I did however get good reviews from people that had previously tasted Red Velvet, so that made me happy.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Cupcake Ingredients
4 Eggs
1 2/3 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Oil
1 Can Pumpkin
2 Cups A.P. Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda.

Baking Directions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Beat together Egg, Sugar, Oil and Pumpkin Mix.
• In large bowl beat together Flour, Baking Powder, Cinnamon, Salt and Baking Soda.
• Combine wet and dry ingredients, mix thoroughly.
  

Icing Ingredients
1 Package Cream Cheese (3 oz)
1/2 Stick Butter Softened
1 Tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Icing Directions

• Cream together Cream Cheese and Butter.
  
• Stir Vanilla and Sugar in slowly.
  
• Beat until smooth and fully incorporated.
• Dip cupcakes in icing.

These were one of, if not the very first introduction to cupcake baking from scratch. At first I was freaking out about the icing being too thin, (Because at the time I kept confusing a frosting with an icing) But the cupcakes were met with rave reviews, so naturally I felt much better.