Smore's Cake

This one is a doozy. Do people even say that anymore? Well it's true. She's got a few steps to her, but she's so worth it. The good ones always are. This is a graham cracker sponge, homemade marshmallow fluff filling, smothered in a chocolate buttercream, and doused with chocolate ganache. 

This makes a three layer 9-inch round cake or you could do about 2.5 dozen cupcakes. 

For the cake:

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temp

1 c brown sugar

1 c honey 

4 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp cinnamon

1 c sour cream 

1/2 c buttermilk 

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prep three 9-inch cake pans with goop. 

2. In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon) and set aside. 

3. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together oil, butter, honey, and brown sugar. 

4. Add in egg whites and vanilla and beat for a minute or so to incorporate. 

5. Add in 1/3 of the dry ingredients and beat to combine. 

6. Add in the sour cream, beat to combine. 

7. Repeat with 1/3 dry ingredients. 

8. Add buttermilk.

9. End on last 1/3 dry ingredients. 

10. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

For the marshmallow fluff: *This is my normal marshmallow recipe, just tweaked to make it looser. You don't need all of this, but I mean, who's gonna be mad about some extra fluff? But, feel free to 1/2 this recipe if you don't want extra happiness. 

1/3 c powdered sugar

1 ½ tbsp unflavored gelatin

½ c cold water

1 ½ c granulated sugar

1 c corn syrup

¼ tsp salt

½ c water *yeah, separate from the other ½ c water. 

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle gelatin over ½ c cold water to soften; set aside.

2. In a saucepan, heat granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and ½ c water *you see, the second water* over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling; cook without stirring until it reaches 240F on a candy thermometer or until a small amount of mixture dropped into a cup of ice water forms a ball that holds its shape but is pliable. Remove from heat. *I always do both the thermometer AND the water test. I don't trust my thermometer fully, but it's a good guide to know when to start trying the softball water test.

3. Slowly pour syrup into softened gelatin while beating on low speed *I used the whisk attachment*. Increase speed to high; beat 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is white and has almost tripled in volume. Add in salt and vanilla and mix to incorporate.

4. Put in a piping bag until assembly.

For the buttercream:

4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature *yes, this is pretty butter-heavy; trust me, it's delicious
1 c cocoa powder
4 c powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Put butter into stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.

2. Sift cocoa powder and powdered sugar together. 

3. Pour sugar mixture into butter a little at a time until incorporated. Add salt and vanilla to taste.

4. Continue to beat for a few minutes until fluffy. If it feels too tight, add a splash of milk or cream. 

5. Place about 1/3 of the frosting in a piping bag and set aside.

For the ganache:

1 c heavy cream
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips 
4 tbsp (half a stick) unsalted butter, room temp - I almost ALWAYS don't do room temp because I forget to pull the butter out for this; it's fine; just takes a few more mins to melt
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place the heavy cream in a small pan on the stove and heat until just at a simmer. You don't want this to boil.

2. While the cream is heating, put your chocolate and butter chopped into small cubes into a heat safe bowl.

3. Once the cream has heated, pour over the chocolate and butter and cover bowl with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. *This just ensures that your chocolate will melt and be easier to incorporate.

4. Stir the ingredients together. At first it will look like they aren't coming together. They will. Once it's smooth, I add some salt and vanilla to taste, and make sure to fully incorporate it.

5. You will want this to sit for a while so that it is pourable but will not fall off the cake. We want drips.

Assembly:

1. Place a dollop of frosting onto board or cake stand and put down first layer of cake (feel free to level off the tops of cakes if they're domed). 

2. Take the piping bag of buttercream and pipe a thick rim around the top of the cake to make a dam for the marshmallow fluff. 

3. Fill in the layer with the marshmallow fluff. Repeat with the second layer. 

4. Cover the whole cake in the buttercream. 

5. Slowly spoon the ganache on top and guide it down the side of the cake in drips- some people use a squeeze bottle for this. I just give it a little nudge occasionally with my spoon to force it to gently fall down the side of the cake. 

6. Decorate with teddy grahams, mini marshmallows, and chocolate pieces. 

7. Sit next to a fire and mock it because you got your s'mores dream without any of its help.