Sea Salt Toasted Marshmallow Chocolate Cupcakes

I've craving chocolate cake for weeks. Maybe its that time of month, or it's because I haven't had a good night's sleep in two weeks due to my two year old's need to cuddle at 2am, but I want cake. And I want chocolate cake because a good slice of chocolate cake can make everything better. And a bad slice of chocolate cake is really just one of the worst kinds of disappointments. So in an effort to fight bad, dry, flavorless chocolate cake, I present this Sea Salt Toasted Marshmallow Chocolate cupcake. An incredibly moist, oh so deep dark chocolatey cupcake.

This cake entices your senses the second it hits the oven. And all the ingredients are probably in your pantry! Just mix the dry ingredients together, then the wet and bring them together. That's it! On a side note, cake recipes generally call for sifting the dry ingredients, but I've had success without sifting so, in an effort to save time and finish this cake before nap time ends, I'm just going to mix the dry together with a whisk! 

This cake is as easy to make as a muffin, no butter to soften and beat, so you can really make it anytime. Because we all know that those chocolate cravings somehow always happen around 10p on a Tuesday night. 

The batter will be thin...It's ok!

But we have to talk about the topping. I know there are a lot of marshmallow haters out there. And to be honest, I have no explanation for that, but growing up I loved s'mores. so much so, that as an adult we bought our house with a backyard for the sole purpose of being able to have a fire pit so I can make s'mores. There's nothing better than a toasted marshmallow. Warm, crunchy, chewy, sweet, toasty. I don't think I can add another adjective. It's awesome. I attempted to make this frosting using large melted marshmallows thinking that I can whip it into submission, but I was so woefully wrong. It turned into a gummy, gooey mess. Delicious, but wouldn't behave well enough to spread, let alone pipe onto a cupcake. As mad as I was at myself, I was calm enough to take pics of that fail and it's now one my sour moments. So instead I toasted up a bunch of mini marshmallows and married it with vanilla buttercream and a pinch of sea salt. Oh yes. It's seriously amazing.

Toasty, Toasty...

I was afraid the sweet of the marshmallow plus the sweet of a buttercream would come across as cloyingly sweet, but the sea salt cuts the sweetness just enough to make this a truly addictive treat. It's the taste of a campfire without all that smokey ash flying around. I hope you guys enjoy this as much we do! 

Post nap snack...

Sea salt Toasted Marshmallow Chocolate Cupcakes

Yields: 24 decadent cupcakes

For the Deep Dark Chocolate cupcake

*Adapted from Favorite Chocolate Cake recipe from The Woks of Life

Ingredients

(Dry Ingredients)

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 3/4 cups cocoa powder (I like anything thats dutch processed)

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

(Wet Ingredients)

• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken 

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 3 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (cold is fine too)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt an electric mixer low speed until combined.
3. In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. 
4. Slowly Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on low till they're combined.
5. Pour the batter into lined cupcakes tins a little more than half way full  (I like pouring the batter into a large measuring cup to help make this step easier) 
6. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack.
8. Once fully cooled frost with toasted marshmallow frosting, top it with reserved toasted marshmallows and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt

Toasted marshmallow frosting

Ingredients

• 16 tbsp butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract  
• 1/2 bag mini marshmallows, plus more for decorating
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Method

1. Lay marshmallows in a single layer on a cookie sheet
2. Place in broiler for 2-3 minutes till toasted to a dark brown  
3. Take out and let cool
4. Beat butter in an electric mixer
5. Add in confectioners sugar one cup at a time
6. Add vanilla
7. Fold in toasted marshmallows till it's combined