Recipe for a Perfect Birthday

Yoni and I moved to a new place in February. While the 6 large pane windows are enough to make me giddy, the park outside my front door is the true source of glee. Yes, it's nice to have a park. But what is really nice is we seem to celebrate EVERYTHING here now!

Today, it was Willa's birthday, and what a birthday it was! Willa, now one, had siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, mom, dad, her own photographer sent from the Washington Post (Seriously. Look for her in the Lifestyles section in the next few weeks) and the piece de resistance, the most incredible sweet edibles I've had in quite some time. Imagine Ben&Jerry's was in a cake and that's pretty much what these confections were. Tiny little dense chocolate cakes filled with toasted marshmallow, graham cracker bites and chocolate chips, covered in a malted graham frosting. Revelatory and revelratory.

Here's Kimber's recipe...

Willa's Birthday Cupcakes, S'mores Edition

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 small box chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
4 eggs at room temperature
1 cup good milk chocolate chips, gently melted
2 cups miniature marshmallows, divided
1 sleeve graham crackers (i.e., 1/3 of a normal box of grahams -- I think it's 12 whole crackers)

Mix together all but the last three ingredients and beat on high speed for three minutes. Then, fold in the melted chocolate, 1 cup marshmallows, and the crackers, crumbling the grahams very roughly with your hands (pieces about as big as a quarter are perfect). Mix until just barely combined, then put into cupcake liners and top with addition marshmallows (I suggested 3, but since Hettie and Phineas were in charge of the process, it ended up being more like 17). Bake at 350 for about 22 minutes, or until the top is set (as best you can discern through all that toasted mallow!). 

Weird and Delicious Graham Cracker Frosting
(inspired by this, which was inspired by this, which I looked up because of this)

In a blender, make an unusual smoothie using 1/3 cup milk, 2 sleeves graham crackers (i.e., the rest of the box that you got to make the cupcakes), along with 1/4 cup powdered milk, a generous pinch of salt, and 3 Tbs brown sugar. Then, using your mixer, cream 6 Tbs butter with 1 Tbs of powdered sugar. Slowly incorporate your cracker sludge, and whip it to a frenzy, adding more milk or powdered sugar as needed to get your desired consistency.