This weekend my family threw a giant pig roast to celebrate the upcoming birth of the newest addition to the Blackall clan. Obviously, I was in charge of desserts. Considering the extra special occasion, I wanted to make an extra special cake: something very fall, but not the usual pumpkin, cinnamon, or apple cider. That's where the chocolate s'mores cake was born.
Just look at it! I'm drooling just thinking about how good this cake was. The chocolate cake was super moist and intensely chocolatey. (I don't even like chocolate cake, but my chocolate cake recipe is DIVINE. Screw being humble, it really is the best.) I baked the cakes atop a cinnamon graham crust, flipped them over, and iced them with marshmallow frosting. From there, I covered the whole cake in mini marshmallows and torched the sucker until the frosting and marshmallows were nice and toasty.
Graham Crust
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- cinnamon to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
In a medium bowl, add all ingredients and stir to combine. The mixture will be like very fine sand. Distribute mixture evenly between to pans and press down with the back of a glass to firmly pack the mixture in the pan. Bake for 4-6 minutes until set.
Chocolate Cake
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot coffee
In the large bowl of a standing mixer, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt until combined. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract and beat until smooth (about 3 minutes). Stir in hot coffee with a rubber spatula. (This will make the batter very runny, don’t worry!)
Pour batter evenly between the two pans and bake on middle rack of oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and frost.
Marshmallow Frosting
Adapted from Martha Stewart.
- 8 large egg whites
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Mini marshmallows.
Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes.
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.
Apply frosting generously to cake. Cover the top and bottom perimeter of the cake with as many marshmallows as your heart desires. Using a kitchen torch, toast the frosting to desired color.