These Strawberry S’mores Cupcakes marry together a biscuit base, rich chocolate cupcake a homemade compote filling and marshmallow frosting to create an indulgent, delicious treat!
Hiya everyone, how was your weekend? I still have to be careful as I’m at risk, but I drove to the supermarket on Sunday… It felt so nice to be doing something “normal”. I waited in the car for my husband, but this weekend I’m going to try and go into the shop. I just have to be extra careful.
Today I have a seriously indulgent cupcake recipe for you: Strawberry S’mores Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting. I love strawberry s’mores and I love cupcakes, so it felt natural to marry the two together. And let me tell you, this marshmallow frosting is the BEST frosting I’ve EVER had!!
I made a homemade strawberry compote to go in the centre of the cupcakes. Then I sprinkled digestive crumbs and toasted marshmallows on top to finish off this delicious creation.
There are so many amazing flavours and layers to these cupcakes. There are quite a few steps, but they’re not hard to make and I’ll walk you through everything!
Last year I made Strawberry S’mores Shortcakes and they were a huge hit. Those shortcakes really kick started my love for strawberry s’mores. You just cannot go wrong with biscuits, chocolate, strawberries and marshmallows.
The strawberries here are particularly sweet right now and I can’t get enough of them. I’ve been either making overnight oats or porridge for my lunch recently. Strawberries have been the star ingredient in all of my lunches!
When the strawberries are sweet, I want to make everything I can think of with them. I have a few more ideas for strawberry recipes and I can’t wait to share them with you.
Now, let’s walk through how to make these Strawberry S’mores Cupcakes…
I started with my biscuit base. The next step is to blitz digestives (we don’t get Graham crackers in the UK, if you’re in the US use them) and mix the crumbs with melted butter.
I lined a cupcake tray with 12 liners and then pressed a little of the biscuit base into each liner. Next it’s time to leave them to the side while you make the cake batter.
This is a pretty simple chocolate cupcake recipe, nothing fancy. I placed 2tbsp of cake batter on top of each layer of biscuit then baked them in the oven for 20 minutes.
While the cupcakes are baking, it’s the perfect time to make the fruit compote for the middle as everything has to be cool before assembly.
I chopped fresh strawberries, placed them in a pan with sugar, water and cornflour and then simmered them until the fruit was soft.
After the cupcakes were out of the oven I left everything to cool before making the frosting.
The frosting has marshmallow fluff in and is quick and easy to make. I thought about making it with melted marshmallows. However, I thought that fluff would mix better… And I then thought about how I could add toasted mini marshmallows for garnish!
To assemble I took my cupcake corer and cored all of the cupcakes. It’s important to keep a bit of the middle for a top. I sliced each core so I had a 1/4 inch slice for the top. Then I took a cook’s blow torch to the mini marshmallows to char them slightly and left them to cool.
I placed 1tsp of strawberry compote into the centre of each cupcake. Then placed the slice of cupcake over it to seal it back up. I piped the marshmallow frosting on top with an open star nozzle before adding my garnishes.
To garnish, I sprinkled the toasted marshmallows on top of the cupcakes. I also sprinkled some biscuit crumbs on top of the cupcakes and placed half a strawberry into the frosting. You can leave the garnishes, or just do one. It’s completely up to you, but I have to make them as pretty as possible for photography purposes!
Strawberry S’mores Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting
Ingredients
- For the biscuit base:
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) digestives/graham crackers, you can also use chocolate digestives
- 1/2 stick (56g) unsalted butter, melted
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (140g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (50g) cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk, I used oat milk, you can use dairy milk too. I've made these cupcakes for years with dairy milk.
- For the strawberry compote:
- 1 cup (150g) diced fresh strawberries
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 3-4 tbsp water
- For the frosting:
- 1 1/4 sticks (140g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups (300g) icing/powdered sugar, sifted
- 7.5oz (212g) jar of marshmallow fluff
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 tbsp milk, I used oat, you can use whatever
- 1/2 cup (12g) mini marshmallows
- 1 extra digestive, crushed for garnish
- 6 halved strawberries for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with liners. Place the digestive biscuits into a food processor/mini chopper and blitz until you have fine crumbs. Tip into a small bowl and then pour over the melted butter. Mix together until all of the crumbs are coated in butter.
- Place around 1tbsp of biscuit mix into the base of each cupcake liner and gently press into an even layer. You want to cover the base of the cupcake liner. Leave to one side.
- Now make the cupcakes: Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, around 2 minutes.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, scraping down the sides as necessary, and mix until well incorporated, around 1 minute on medium speed.
- Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and mix on low until the mixture starts to come together. Then slowly add the milk while mixing. Continue to mix until your mixture is smooth and well combined.
- Place 2tbsp of cake batter into each cupcake liner. I use a cookie scoop to ensure my cupcakes are even. Place in the oven for 18-22 minutes, until risen and an inserted skewer into the centre comes out clean.
- While the cupcakes are baking, make the strawberry compote: Place the diced strawberries, sugar, cornflour and water into a small saucepan over a medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the fruit is soft. You want some chunks of fruit and some mushy bits. The mixture should coat the back of your spoon. Leave to cool.
- Once the cupcakes are done, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once they are cool, take a small knife or cupcake corer and take a 1inch round piece out of the centre of each cupcake. You don't want to go right to the bottom, just about 2/3 of the way in.
- Take each cupcake core and cut so that the top is the bit you're going to be re using to cover the filling. Slice so that the cupcake core is 1/4 inch thick, then leave to one side. You can eat or discard the remaining cores. Place 1tsp of the cooled strawberry compote into each cupcake and place the slice of cupcake from the core over it.
- Place the mini marshmallows onto a small heat proof plate and use a cook's blow torch to char the marshmallows. Alternatively you can heat your grill to 200C/400F and place in the grill for 30-45 seconds. I prefer to use a blow torch as I find it easier to control. Leave to cool while you make the frosting.
- Place the butter, icing sugar, marshmallow fluff and vanilla into a large bowl and mix on low until the mixture softens and starts to come together. Don't whack it on high straight away as you'll get a plume of icing sugar!
- Turn the mixer up to medium-high as the icing sugar incorporates, then add in milk, 1tbsp at a time, if required. I needed 2tbsp of milk. Continue to mix on medium-high until you have a thick, fluffy frosting which holds its shape, but is soft enough to pipe. Fit a piping bag with an open star nozzle (or a plain one, up to you!) and fill the bag half way. Pipe a swirl onto each cupcake.
- Take your now cooled mini marshmallows and sprinkle some over each cupcake. Crush a digestive biscuit and sprinkle biscuit crumbs over each cupcake too. Now take half of a strawberry and press into one side of the frosting. Now it's time to devour!
- Strawberry S'mores Cupcakes will keep in an airtight container, in the fridge for 3 days. They are best served at room temperature.
Annie is a self-taught baker, recipe developer and food photographer, who has an obsession with dessert and beauty! 
