Chocolate Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Meringue Frosting

Chocolate Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Meringue Frosting are really delish and you only need 1 bowl to make 'em!! How awesome is that?? This is the moistest cupcake and full of chocolaty flavor! It's our fave! Even Don gobbles these up and ask for me, and he says he doesn't like chocolate <smile>

When I first frosted these, I used a buttercream frosting, but it overpowered the cupcake and the overall flavor was just way too sweet!  I scraped it off and started over! I decided a marshmallow meringue would go nicely with these and it does. Don came home and said "they aren't toasted" So to put a smile on that sad looking old face, I popped them under broiler - the cupcakes looked better like that too!

Recently I learned that if you bake cupcakes at 325 degrees F. it produces a cupcake with a flat top and a melt-in-your-mouth texture, so now I bake all my cupcakes that way. I haven't changed all my posts on the blog yet, but I will get that... someday (I hope). If you like a cupcake with a rounded top more like a muffin then you'll want to bake these at 350 degrees F and reduce the cooking time by about 5-8 minutes.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray muffin pan lightly with cooking spray. You are just trying to spray the top in case the cupcake spills over. Place cupcake liners in muffin pan. I get about 14 cupcakes out of this recipe. 

Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl (I used the bowl for my stand mixer). Mix all of these ingredients together until fully incorporated. 

Add 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 egg, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla to the dry ingredients. Mix on on low speed until just combined and then up the speed to medium and mix well until fully combined. Reduce speed and add boiling water slowly. Be careful not to let it splash! Once combined, beat mixture on medium speed for 1 minute. Don't get the speed too high or the batter will splash out of the bowl and that would be sad. The batter should be thin, so don't worry!!

I use an ice cream scoop to distribute the batter evenly among the cupcake liners. Be sure to fill these 3/4 full and bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes. The cupcakes are ready when the tops bounce back when lightly pressed.  Remove from oven and cool in pan for about 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting.

Toasted Marshmallow Meringue

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Mix 4 egg whites, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl - I use the metal bowl of my stand mixer. Set the mixing bowl over a saucepan with simmering water and whisk constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Check to make sure the sugar is completely dissolved by rubbing a bit of the egg mixture between your fingers. It should not feel grainy. Keep whisking until all the graininess is gone. We aren't trying to scramble the eggs here, so be careful with the heat.

Once all the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat, and beat the egg whites using the whisk attachment. Start the mixer out on a lower speed and once the egg mixture starts to thicken switch it over to high speed. Beat until the mixture forms stiff, shiny peaks - about 5-8 minutes.  

Tip: Be sure cupcakes are ready to frost - you don't want to make this up ahead of time.

When the cupcakes are cooled,  pipe on the marshmallow meringue. I used a 1m large decorating tip for these and piped starting at the outside and working my way in. You can Google icing techniques for the tip you are using. There are lots of videos on YouTube.  Then I popped them under the broiler for about 30 seconds - 1 minute. Watch them closely so they don't burn. Toast them to your liking and enjoy!