There are some things that just say “summer” to me: cookouts in my parents’ backyard, competitive games of bocce, cold glasses of iced tea with fresh lemons, large slices of watermelon, strawberry shortcake and s’mores.

These cupcakes are the perfect addition to a summer cookout. Martha Stewart’s cupcakes inspired my assembly method, but I used my go-to chocolate cake recipe, Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake and created my own marshmallow frosting recipe. The frosting is soft and sticky, much like a melted marshmallow. The buttery graham cracker base, coupled with bittersweet chocolate, a rich chocolate cake and the marshmallow frosting imparts that quintessential summer flavor of s’mores in a portable cupcake… no campfire required!

S’mores Cupcakes
Yields 30 cupcakes

For the graham crust:
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 – 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the topping:
Marshmallow Frosting (recipe below)
Finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
Chocolate sprinkles (jimmies, for those of us from New England!)

1. Heat oven to 350?F. Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. Combine 1/4 cup sugar,graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl.
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of graham crakcer mix into the bottom of each muffin cup. Press crumbs firmly, using the bottom of a small glass. Save the remaining mixture for topping.
4. Top graham cracker mix with several bittersweet chocolate chips.
5. Bake graham mixture for about five minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
6. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
7. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir until well blended.
8. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
9. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
10. Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4 full with batter (about 1/4 cup).
11. Sprinkle batter with small amount of remaining graham cracker mixture.
12. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely

Marshmallow Frosting
Yields enough frosting for 30 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups marshmallow creme (about 8 oz.)
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Cream together shortening and marshmallow creme.
2. Beat in about 1/2 of the water, followed by half of the powdered sugar.
3. Add the remaining powdered sugar and enough water to bring the frosting to a smooth, spreadable consistency.

Assembling the cupcakes:

1. Spoon a small amount of frosting onto the center of the cupcake and spread towards the edges with a knife. This frosting is very soft and will run down the edges of the cupcake if too much is applied.
2. Sprinkle frosted cupcakes with crushed graham cracker crumbs and chocolate sprinkles.

I have a major weakness for Oreos. I can easily demolish an entire bag in a few sittings, so I try to avoid buying them. I saw these Oreo cupcakes on the blog Proceed With Caution, and have been waiting for the right opportunity to make them.

The right opportunity presented itself in the form of dinner and 24 with our friends Carolyn and Rob. I had originally planned to make something simple and easy to eat neatly, since we would be eating dessert in front of the television. That plan didn’t last very long.

I used a Hershey’s recipe for ‘”Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake and was amazed at the number of cupcakes it produced. The recipe called for filling muffin cups 2/3 with batter, resulting in 30 cupcakes. I figured I could whittle that number down to 24 if I was generous in my batter allotment. Nope! I ended up with 31 Oreo cupcakes. I frosted half of them and will be freezing the rest for another occasion. It’s worth noting that the large number of cupcakes did cause a bit of a baking problem. I only have two muffin tins, so I had to bake 24 cupcakes first and then bake the remaining ones separately. The last 7 cupcakes did not rise as well as the first batch and ended up with a slightly concave appearance. However, they taste just fine!

I used a double batch of my grandmother’s frosting recipe and augmented it with crushed Oreos for the cookies and cream icing. The Oreos must be finely ground so that the frosting will spread easily.

Be careful when splitting the cookies to top these delicious Oreo cupcakes, as the Oreos tend to crumble quite easily. I followed suggestions found on Proceed With Caution and split the Oreos by placing the blade of my knife evenly across the cookie and pressing straight down. With a few exceptions, this method worked quite well. I certainly didn’t mind eating the Oreos that didn’t look pretty enough!

I am thrilled with the way that these came out. The Perfectly Chocolate cupcake is rich, but not too sweet. They complement the sweet cookies and cream icing quite nicely. Not only are these oreo cupcakes delicious, but I think they’re really cute! The frosting and Oreo garnish are fun and festive. This was the first time that I piped my cupcakes using a decorator bag, and I was happy to see that it’s not too hard. I’m looking forward to sharing my latest creation with friends and family!

Oreo Cupcakes

Yields 30 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
30 Oreos, 1 side twisted off and reserved for frosting *
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350?F. Line muffin pans with paper liners and place 1 Oreo (cream side up) in each liner.
2. Stir together  flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
6. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter (about 1/4 cup).
7. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely

For the frosting:
2 1-lb packages of confectioner’s sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Oreo crumbs, made from reserved sides (used above) and additional cookies

1. Beat shortening and water together.
2. Gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar and beat until creamy.
3. Add vanilla and beat in well.
4. If needed, add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, to attain desired consistency.
5. Beat in Oreo crumbs.
6. If frosting will not be used right away, store in an airtight container.

Optional Garnish:
15 Oreos, split in half and placed atop the frosted cupcakes

* You’ll probably need more than 1 bag for the cupcakes, frosting and garnish

I spotted these Hostess cupcake look-alikes in the February/March edition of the Food Network Magazine. The recipe is provided by Sally Russo, the owner of Lulu’s Bake Shoppe in Boston. With their shiny, smooth ganache topping, these cupcakes looked mouth-wateringly good. I’ve wanted to try making them since I bought the magazine a month ago, but figured they were worth saving for a special occasion. Since my husband and I did not out on Valentine’s Day, these were the perfect treat for our night in.

Since I filled the muffin cups a little more than I should have, I ended up with 21 cupcakes, and not a full 2 dozen. Despite the fact that the cupcakes baked through perfectly, the centers of most of them did not rise completely. Filling the cupcakes was easier then I thought, but I had a hard time following the “do not overfill” direction. I only used about half of the filling. I’m not sure if this is because my dimpled cupcakes had less room for filling, or because it’s a generous recipe.

I ran into a little bit of trouble with the ganache topping. I think I let is cool a little too long, so it started to set up as I was still working on the cupcakes. Because of this, the ganache went on thickly and only a few of the cupcakes have a really glossy finish. The finished product still looked and tasted great.

This cream-filled cupcake recipe was pretty time-consuming to work through, simply because there were so many components. None of the steps are complicated, but you need to prepare the cupcakes, cream filling, ganache topping and decorator frosting. It’s a lot of work for one baking session. Next time, I will plan to bake and fill the cupcakes one day, and then top them with ganache and frosting the following day.

These cream-filled cupcakes were well worth the time I invested. The cupcake itself has a rich chocolate flavor, and a dense, moist consistency. The cream filling is a fun, sweet surprise and the bittersweet ganache topping is rich and smooth. I will be definitely be making these again!

Lulu’s Cream Filled Cupcakes

Yields 24 cupcakes

FOR THE CUPCAKES
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

FOR THE FILLING
4 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 cup marshmallow creme

FOR THE GANACHE AND ICING
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 stick, plus 1 tbsp butter
2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Place paper liners in two 12-cup muffin pans.

2. Prepare the cupcakes. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Bring the sugar and 1 cup of water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about three minutes. Pour into a large bowl; add the chocolate and butter and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture has cooled slightly. Stir in the vanilla.

Using a mixer, beat in the eggs, then mix in the dry ingredients.

3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (about 1/4 cup batter per cupcake) and bake until a toothpick inserted in teh center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for about 25 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to rack to cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Using a mizer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 tbsp heavy cream; beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners sugar and 2 tbsp heavy cream in batches, alternating after each addition. Beat in the marshmallow creme; set aside.

5. Prepare the ganache: Place the chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl. Heat the cream and 1 tbsp butter until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate; let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Add 2 tsp vanilla; let stand until cool but still glossy and liquid.

6. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag wit a medium tip. Insert the tip into the center of each cupcake top; fill until the cupcake is heavier (do not overfill). Dip the cupcake tops in the ganache. Chill for at least 15 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, prepare the icing: using a mixer, beat the remaining 1 stick butter, 1/4 tsp vanilsl, the milk and confectioners sugar until smooth. Spoon into a pastry bag with a small tip; pipe onto the cupcakes to decorate.