Easy S’mores Cake

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A S’mores Cake is a rich, chocolate cake inspired by the classic campfire treat. It’s topped with toasted marshmallows, melted chocolate bar pieces, and crunchy graham cracker bits.

A few years ago I was introduced to s’mores brownies.   These were game changers.   Thick, chocolatey brownies topped with graham crackers and toasted marshmallows?   They are totally amazing and I make them often, especially when someone asks me to bring dessert to their house.

What are S’mores?

S’mores are a popular American snack made around a campfire. They consist of a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate bar sandwiched between two graham crackers. The heat from the marshmallow melts the chocolate creating a warm, gooey, and sweet snack.

A few weeks ago my instructional assistant was having a birthday.   Since I am the dessert queen I knew I had to make her a cake.   The problem with this is that she isn’t a huge fan of frosting.   Craziness right?   That’s my favorite part of the cake but she usually scrapes hers off or eats around it.   Since I wasn’t about to make a cake or cupcakes minus the frosting I had to come up with another plan.

The good news is that she loves chocolate.   I figured I could bake a cake and top it with ganache or something similar, but since I don’t like over the top chocolate desserts I nixed that as well.

Then I thought of my s’mores brownies and realized I could probably use the same topping idea on a chocolate cake.   No frosting but the top would be covered in graham crackers and toasted marshmallows.   It was a win-win idea for everyone!

I just went with a basic chocolate cake recipe.   Initially I was going to make a double layer but then I didn’t know what to fill it with so I simply made a single layer cake.

Can I use a boxed cake mix?

You sure can!  You could even use a boxed brownie mix if you don’t have a chocolate cake mix.

When it was finished I topped it with graham crackers and mini marshmallows and put it under the broiler until they browned.   Once out of the oven I pressed Hershey Bar pieces onto it.   When it cooled it was a delicious sight.

I took it in to my friend the next day and she was thrilled!   She loved the idea of topping the cake with the s’mores toppings instead of frosting.   I won’t tell you how much cake we ate but lets just say that throughout the day we both had more then a few nibbles of cake…and we may not have shared with anyone else!   This is a fun and super rich cake that both kids and adults will love.

S’mores Birthday Cake

Chocolate cake topped with torched marshmallows, graham crackers bites, and chocolate bar pieces.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Author: Hezzi-D

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 3/4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 5 T. butter softened
• 1/4 c. light brown sugar
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/4 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. chocolate chips

For the toppings:

• 5 graham cracker sheets broken into pieces
• 3/4 c. mini marshmallows
• 3 large Hershey bars broken into squares

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
• Mix the butter and sugars together until the are well combined. Then add in the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
• Add in half of the dry ingredients, then the milk, and the remaining dry ingredients. Stir well.
• Slowly mix in the boiling water until the batter is thin. Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Cool the cake for 5 minutes then run a knife around the edges of the pan. Invert the cake and cool for 20 minutes.
• Turn the broil on high in your oven. Move the oven rack to 6-8 inches below the broiler.
• Spread the mini marshmallows over top of the cake. Then sprinkle the broken graham cracker pieces on top.
• Place in the oven, watching constantly, until the marshmallows become brown and toasted (but not too brown or they will catch on fire!)
• Remove from oven and immediately press chocolate pieces into the marshmallow. Cook completely.

Notes

A Hezzi-D Original Recipe