SMORES CUPCAKES...Welcome SUMMER!!

Ok, so Nikkala was talking about doughnuts, and my mouth is now watering and I am going to talk about these YUMMY, cupcakes now. So you may have seen these on Martha Stewart....but these are BETTER. This recipe was made by my darling friend Jeneece, who is a baking goddess. She tweaked Martha Stewart's recipe by changing the chocolate cake part of the recipe into even more dark loveliness.
Jeneece surprised me with these, and some others that were equally great, after I spent an afternoon at her house with some of her SWEET friends teaching a Photoshop class in her theater room: (RANDOM SIDE NOTE: WE WILL BE TEACHING MORE CLASSES LIKE THIS SOON....PHOTOSHOP, DIGI SCRAPPIN' AND MORE!!!)

When we were setting up, she was making these for her daughter's class, and in not so many words, I demanded that she bring me a lovely set of these, PLEASE JENEECE!

She did not disappoint.

So here it is...please make these soon, eat them all, then go have a nap.

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RECIPE FROM JENEECE:
Line 24 muffin/cupcake tins (I use the foil ones for this recipe)

Bottom crust:(Reserve about 1/2 of this mixture for later)
2 cup graham crackers, crushed
1/2 c sugar
4 Tbl melted butter

Place in a bowl and combine until you have a nice crumbly mixture. Put 1 Tbsp or so of this mixture in the bottom of the cupcake liners and press down until they are smooth and flat. Cook for 6 minutes at 350 degrees to slightly brown the bottom. After the bottom has been browned, fill cupcakes with almost 1/4 C cake mixture. Sprinkle left over graham cracker crumbs and small chocolate chips on top of cake mixture and then bake for 15-16 minutes at 350 degrees or until cake springs back when lightly touched with your finger.

Mixture for chocolate cupcakes batter:
1 pkg of chocolate cake mix (I use Betty Crocker)
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 c oil
3/4 c water
1 pkg small dry chocolate pudding mix
1/2 c small chocolate chips

Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
8 large egg whites
2 c sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place egg whites, sugar and cream of tarter in a heatproof bowl of an electric mixer (I use my kitchen aid bowl). Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch (about 3-4 minutes).

Transfer bowl to the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat starting on low speed gradually increasing to high, until stiff glossy peaks form (about 8-10 minutes). Add vanilla and mix until combined. Pipe on to the cupcakes so they look like an ice cream on a ice cream cone. Take a creme brule torch and burn them to make them look like they have been toasted like a campfire. Makes 24 cupcakes.

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And there you have it, welcome summer!!