Cupcakes

I've been testing recipes (mostly enjoying them) for cupcakes. After Nick closes a sale he gives his clients cupcakes to celebrate and show his appreciation.

The usual is Champagne cupcakes but I really wanted to switch it up the other day so I tried a chocolate cake recipe. Filling them with a marshmallow creme sounded delicious so I made that from scratch too--YUM! I topped the little beauties with chocolate ganache (two layers thank you very much)and a cute little swirl of marshmallow creme.

I had a few cupcakes left over from the last batch I made that way so I made peanut butter butter cream frosting and had fun with some sprinkles.

I didn't love the idea of using the scratch-made marshmallow creme if it wasn't going to be consumed quickly since it is basically a meringue (raw or mostly raw egg whites and sugar whipped until you can build with it) so, I started looking for a way to pass less foodborne illnesses. Behold, I found tons of recipes for marshmallow butter cream frosting, it is sweeter than the homemade version but it will hold up better out of refrigeration. After reading many recipes I decided to give it a try, here's what I did:

* 1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
* 1 jar of marshmallow creme (a small jar, and they are 7 ounces)
* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 pinch of salt (I had salted butter so I left this out)

Whip the marshmallow creme and the butter together on medium high speed, add sugar and slowly start to whip the ingredients together (Slowly or you will be covered with powdered sugar!), add the vanilla, whip again to incorporate. Use to fill cupcakes or top your ganache-covered ones, enjoy!

If you need cupcakes for something I would love to make them for you!