S'mores Cupcakes

These are among my favorite so far. We had some out of town guests, so I thought these would be cute to serve. They were met with rave reviews.

1 pkg devil's food cake mix (eggs, water & oil as directed)

24 dark chocolate hershey's kisses

marshmallow frosting (recipe to follow)

1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 Hershey bars, broken into 24 cupcakes (on the lines).

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray cupcakes pans with nonstick spray. Prepare cake batter according to directions. Fill each cup 2/3 full with batter. Insert one Hersehy kiss per cup. It makes a rich "fudgey" filling.

Bake approximately 20 minutes, until done. Frost with marshmallow icing. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs and top each cupcake with a piece of Hershey bar.

Marshmallow Frosting

2 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

6 tbsp water

1 tbsp light corn syrup

½ tsp cream of tartar

pinch of salt

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, water, corn syrup, cream of tartar, and salt. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch, about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the mixture until it is very warm and soft (but not dry) peaks form, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer to low and add the marshmallows and vanilla. Continue beating until the marshmallows are melted and the frosting is completely smooth, about 2 minutes more. Use immediately.