I had one of those weeks where I just needed a bite of junk food. Well, 4 bites…err, 4 whole cupcakes. I went to Texas for a quick trip, but landed in Urgent Care with Camille for a double ear infection. Everything is fine; we’re back home now after a slight delay, but man, it was a hard week. I don’t handle sleep deprivation too well (it’s funny how little they talk of this in baby-prep classes), and I’m still struggling to catch up. So, I need comfort in the form of a mini chocolate cake. And not just any chocolate cake. I want it to be a cupcake stuffed with fluffy marshmallow cream, as in a homemade ding dong! In order to get to that hidden bit of marshmallow heaven, I want to bite through the thickest, richest chocolate ganache frosting. Specific/nitpicky/annoying, I know.
So, I rolled up the sleeves on the denim shirt I wear about 4 days out of the week, and made a small batch of chocolate cupcakes and turned them into homemade ding dongs. My recipe makes just 4 cupcakes. Since this is Dessert for Two, I figure two people can hold a cupcake in each hand, and have two big grins on their face. Ergo, 4 cupcakes = 2 servings. It’s the only kind of math I’m good at. I’ve made a lot of chocolate cupcakes in my day, and I have some wisdom to pass on:
Hate me forever, but cupcakes are softer when they’re made with oil instead of butter. Unless, of course, you eat the cupcakes hot right out of the oven. Or, another exception is when the cupcake batter contains sour cream. But, in general, butter hardens at room temperature, making a cupcake too firm. My go-to small batch chocolate cupcake recipe doesn’t require eggs. No real reason; I just found all the lift I need in buttermilk + baking soda. If you don’t have buttermilk, add a splash of vinegar (like, ½ teaspoon) to your milk about 5 minutes before you need to use it. You can also thin-out some sour cream with milk instead. Or, yogurt! We have options here!
I saved a small scoop of strawberry marshmallow fluff after making my strawberry rice crispy treats, and used them as the filling in these cupcakes. But, plain vanilla marshmallow cream is excellent, still. It’s also way more authentic to regular ding dongs, and you can use any leftovers in my quick peanut butter marshmallow cookies. So is that little white frosting curlicue thingie that should be on the top, but I’m not about to attempt that. Forgive me?
