Gluten Free S'mores Cake and Cupcakes Recipe

This past weekend for my sister's 10th birthday party, I made two dozen S'mores cupcakes and a three-layer S'mores cake. They were both decorated with a beach theme, but you could also decorate it with mini hershey bars, kisses, or chocolate shavings to make it more "adult-appropriate." The recipe below makes two dozen cupcakes or two 8-inch cakes. I made 1.5x the recipe to create a three-layer 9-inch cake.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes or Cake Recipe-

Ingredients-

2 cups gluten-free flour blend (I use cup4cup) 

1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum (omit if using a flour blend that contains xanthan)

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup salted butter

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup water

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions- 

1. Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

2. In your mixing bowl, combine gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

3. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cocoa powder, and 1 cup water. Bring just to boiling, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and add to try ingredients. Beat until combined.

4. Add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Beat for one minute on low-medium speed. 

5. Pour batter into cupcakes liner.

6. Bake at 350℉ for 17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs.

7. Let cool in pan for five minutes, then remove cupcakes. Wait to frost until completely cool. 

*You can also bake this as a cake in a 9x13" pan for around 35 minutes, or in two 8" pans for around 22 minutes. Make sure to spray the pans well with non-stick cooking spray or grease using butter.*

Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting Recipe-

Ingredients- 

2 cups salted butter, softened

2 1/2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1 (13 ounce) jar marshmallow creme

Directions-

1. Cream butter in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until butter is soft and fluffy.

2. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time. Beat in almond extract.

3. Gently fold the marshmallow creme into the frosting until thoroughly incorporated. 

Graham Cracker "Sand"-

To create the 'sand' for these cupcakes, I simply took graham crackers (these can be gluten-free or regular) and put them in my nutribullet (you could also use any blender or food processor) and pulsed into it until it was the consistency of sand. I put it on top of the cupcakes to create a beach. For the cake, I put it in between the layers for taste and on top to create a beach. 

The edible seashells were purchased on Amazon. 

Recipes adapted from here and here. 

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