Posted on by alskamom

The temperature has finally warmed up to above zero degrees, but it’s still quite chilly outside – about 8 degrees right now, and it’s only supposed to warm up to 10 degrees. I’m glad I have nowhere to go today, so I think I’ll just stay inside, light a fire in the fireplace, and settle down on the couch with a good book.

Before I settle in on the couch, I might just grab another cup of coffee and one of these Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting. I don’t think it’s too early to have a cupcake, do you? 😉

These cupcakes are really good, and although they have a really rich and dark chocolate appearance, they are actually quite light and airy. The marshmallow frosting is something I came up with by trial and error. I had found many recipes online for marshmallow frosting, but most of the recipes called for marshmallow creme, which I didn’t have. I had actual mini-marshmallows that I wanted to use for the frosting.

I tried one recipe that I found online, which called for heating marshmallows and milk on the stove, and then mixing it with butter and vanilla. I thought I had followed the recipe exactly, but maybe I did something wrong, because the end result in no way resembled frosting.

I thought about it for awhile, and finally decided to try heating marshmallows and butter in the microwave for a few seconds, similar to the way you would melt baking chips when making a glaze or frosting, and then combining the mixture with powdered sugar and vanilla. I also added a little water, to help make the frosting of spreading consistency -so it wasn’t too thick for the delicate cupcakes. The result was exactly what I was looking for. The frosting is really delicious, and it set up beautifully on the cupcakes.

~Enjoy~







Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Saigon cinnamon (or regular ground cinnamon)

2 large eggs

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add eggs, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix with a hand mixer until smooth. (Note: batter will not be thick, it will have a watery consistency – this is normal)

Fill each muffin tin 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until tops spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool in pan for ten minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost with marshmallow frosting, if desired.

Makes approximately 16 cupcakes.

Marshmallow Frosting

1 cup mini-marshmallows

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons water

Place marshmallows and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high power for 20 seconds. Stir until combined. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and water. Beat with an electric mixer until frosting becomes thick and of spreading consistency. Frost cooled cupcakes.

Filed under: Baking, Cupcakes, Recipes | Tagged: Alaska, Baking, blog, chocolate, cupcake, Dessert, food, frosting, hot chocolate, marshmallow, photo, Recipe, wordpress |