Ingredients
Method
Graham Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 180 g graham crumbs, 60 g all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp fine sea salt, and ½ tsp ground cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl if you're using a hand mixer), cream together 227 g unsalted butter, 100 g brown sugar, and 50 g granulated sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
- Add 2 large eggs and beat on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and paddle with a spatula before adding ½ cup whole milk and ½ tsp vanilla extract and mixing together. It will look curdled and separated at this stage, don't worry—it will come together once you add the dry ingredients.
- Decrease the mixer speed to low and slowly add the graham cracker mixture. Beat on low until completely combined.
- Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until edges just start to brown or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before filling or frosting.
Milk Chocolate Campfire Ganache
- Bring 100 g heavy (whipping) cream to a simmer. Stir in ½ tsp Lapsang Souchong tea and leave to infuse for 10–15 minutes. Pass through a strainer to remove the Lapsang Souchong leaves, and bring the infused cream to a simmer again.
- Put 100 g chopped milk chocolate in a small heat-proof bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave to set for 1-2 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. Whisk until smooth, then stir in 20 g unsalted butter and whisk again until melted and smooth.
- Cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool to room temperature.
Graham Cracker Shark Fin Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C). Line a baking sheet with a perforated baking mat, silicone baking mat, or sheet of parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 365 g all-purpose flour, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp fine sea salt and ¼ tsp baking powder. Set aside.
- Add 113 g unsalted butter and 120 g dark brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer. Beat on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
- Add 38 g honey, 1 large egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix until completely combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until combined.
- Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper to about ¼" thick. Use a circular cookie cutter about 2-3" in diamater to cut out pairs of overlapping circles to make crescent moon shapes. Use a knife to cut across the crescent moons to make shark fin shapes. Gather up and roll out the scraps to make more shark fins or cookies as desired—you only need 12–14 shark fins to decorate the cupcakes.
Toasted Marshmallow French Buttercream
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat and place on a heat-proof surface. Evenly spread 100 g mini marshmallows on the baking sheet, and toast with a kitchen torch until toasted or burnt to your liking. If you don't have a kitchen torch you can also toast them in your oven—set the oven to broil, and place the baking sheet on the top oven rack. Keep a close eye on it, the marshmallows will toast quickly and will burn easily. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Add 65 g granulated sugar and 1 ½ tbsp water to a small saucepan bring to a boil. Heat to 250˚F (121˚C). At the same time, put 3 large egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and begin whipping on medium speed.
- As soon as the sugar syrup reaches 250˚F (121˚C), slowly and carefully pour it into the whipping egg yolks. Try to pour the syrup between the bowl and the moving whisk—if it hits the bowl, it could stick there and solidify, and if it hits the whisk you could get hit with hot sugar syrup.
- Increase the mixer to high speed and whip until no longer warm to the touch, about 10 minutes. Add 225 g unsalted butter one piece at a time until completely incorporated. Add the toasted marshmallows and mix until combined. If the marshmallows are clumping and refusing to mix into the buttercream, gently torch the outside of the mixer bowl (or rub a gel hot pack on the bowl) until the marshmallows begin softening up and mixing into the buttercream. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
Assemble and Decorate
- Remove the center from a cupcake using a cupcake coring tool or an extra large piping tip. Fill the cavity with some milk chocolate campfire ganache, then pipe a couple large swirls of toasted marrshmallow buttercream. Sprinkle on some blue sanding sugar or sprinkles if you like, then nestle in a graham cracker shark fin.