Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

To celebrate this cozy season, we have Hot Chocolate Cupcakes.

These were outstanding cupcakes. I can’t even begin to explain to you how much I loved these Hot Chocolate Cupcakes.

Let’s start by breaking down to you what these Hot Chocolate Cupcakes are all about. We start with a chocolate cupcakes, filled with fudge sauce, frosted with buttercream, with a delicious fudge sauce drizzle, topped with a toasted homemade marshmallow.

Just see for yourself.

I was in heaven. Chocolate heaven, which is my favorite kind!

And I realize I make a lot of chocolate desserts too. Specially chocolate cupcakes. I did the math the other day and my instagram feed was about 50% chocolate for the past couple of months. That’s true love.

Let’s discuss for a second those marshmallows on top. Making marshmallows at home is super easy. Easier than you are probably thinking, if you’ve never done it.

You will need:

• candy thermometer
• small saucepan
• stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• water
• sugar
• agave syrup (or light corn syrup)
• gelatin
• flavoring (vanilla in this case)
• powdered sugar + cornstarch, for dusting
• greased 8×8″ pan, lined with parchment paper
• greased spatula

Seriously, look at this list, it’s really not that big. And with a few simple steps, you can have your own homemade marshmallows.

You could skip this step and use regular store-bought marshmallows for your Hot Chocolate Cupcakes, if you so desire. And you can even use store-bought fudge sauce. There’s nobody saying you can’t do those things.

But if you like a fun baking project, making these Hot Chocolate Cupcakes from scratch might just be the thing you need.

Not to mention that the results are undeniably delicious. You can see for yourself. And probably taste it too after a few hours of some love and work in the kitchen. Is it work if you love what you’re doing? My answer is: yes. The things I love doing most in the world actually take a lot of work: being a mom, making croissant from scratch, making marshmallows from scratch, going to the gym, doing hot yoga.

Anyway, nothing that’s worth in life comes without hard work. And I am not scared of working hard. That’s actually my biggest drive.

But I understand people have different priorities in life, and maybe your priority isn’t spending the whole day in the kitchen, like mine is. And that’s totally cool. Maybe the type of hard work that makes your heart tingle isn’t exactly related to slaving away over a hot stove. Maybe you’re in love with playing tennis. And it’s all good.

If you do make everything from scratch, I will warn you. You might have some leftover fudge, just a bit. In this case, you can simply store it in the fridge for up to 20 days, eat it over your favorite ice cream.

You will also have over 12 marshmallows, which means you’ll have some extra. In this case, you can store the marshmallows in an air-tight container for up to 3 weeks, at room temperature. Good luck making them last that long, though.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe, I am glad to share my Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with the world.

Here are some more recipes you may like:

• Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cheesecake Pie
• Oreo Cupcakes
• No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake
• Brigadeiro Cupcakes
• Smores Cupcakes
• Lindt Truffle Cupcakes
• Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes
• Alfajor Cupcakes

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes, filled with fudge sauce. With buttercream, hot fudge sauce and a toasted homemade marshmallow right on top.

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 cupcakes

Calories 320 kcal

Ingredients

  

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 190 grams 6.75 oz
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 31 grams 1.125 oz
• 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams 7 oz.
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup brewed coffee
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup canola oil 107 grams 3.8 oz

Hot Fudge Sauce

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 30 grams, 1 oz
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup honey or light corn syrup if you will
• 1/3 cup brown sugar 66 grams, 2.3 oz
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder 20 grams, 0.7 oz
• 1 cup chopped dark chocolate or semi-sweet, whatever you prefer (170 grams, 6 oz)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Buttercream

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature (226 grams, 8 oz)
• 4 cups powdered sugar 510 grams, 18 oz
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons of heavy cream if necessary

Homemade Marshmallow

• 2 cups white sugar 400 grams, 14 oz
• 1/3 cup agave syrup or light corn syrup
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup water for gelatin
• 7 teaspoons of gelatin 21 grams, 0.7 oz
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cornstarch

Instructions

 

Chocolate Cupcakes

• Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cupcake pan with cupcake liners or grease it with butter and flour.
• Sift flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
• In another bowl, mix coffee, vinegar, vanilla and oil. Pour dry mixture over wet ingredients. Whisk briefly, until incorporated. Be careful not to overmix. As soon as you see no more streaks of dry mixture, stop whisking.
• Distribute batter evenly in cupcake pans.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes.
• Remove and let it cool.

Fudge Sauce

• Mix all ingredients except for the chopped chocolate, and vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat.
• Simmer on low for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Remove form the heat, add chocolate and stir until melted together.
• Add vanilla.
• Let it cool down to room temperature before using. It will need to have the perfect consistency in order to drip perfectly on top of the cupcakes. It can’t be too cold, or too hot. It needs to be just at room temperature.

Buttercream

• Cream butter in the bowl of a mixer, at medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
• Turn mixer off. Add sugar. Mix on low until sugar is incorporated.
• Cream for another 1 minute.
• Add vanilla and mix to combine. If texture is too stiff, add the heavy cream. Otherwise, it’s ready to pipe.

Homemade Marshmallows

• Prepare your equipment: Line a 8×8” cake pan with parchment paper, and brush the parchment paper with neutral oil.
• You will also need a scraper or spatula, brushed with neutral oil as well, when it’s time to remove the marshmallow from the bowl to the pan.
• Sift powdered sugar and cornstarch together in a bowl. I like to use one of those shakers that have the perforated top, to make it easier to sprinkle the powder over marshmallows to coat evenly and delicately.
• Place sugar, agave syrup, and 1/3 cup of water in a saucepan.
• Stir until combined.
• Use a brush dipped in water to clean the sides of the saucepan from any sugar granules.
• Place a candy thermometer in the pan.
• Over medium heat, let mixture come to a boil. Gently swirl the pan while turning the heat down to medium-low.
• Let mixture cook until the temperature reaches 245F.
• While syrup cooks, place gelatin and 1/2 cup of water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir to combine and let it sit for 10 minutes, while you cook the syrup. Do this in the beginning when the syrup starts to boil, because it will take about 10 minutes or so, depending on how high you have your heat.
• Once syrup reaches 245F, turn the heat off. Let pan sit for 2 minutes.
• With the whisk attachment, start whisking gelatin mixture in the stand mixer.
• Slowly, add hot syrup to the bowl, while mixer is running.
• Add salt. Increase speed to high and whisk for 5 minutes, until mixture is very fluffy.
• Add vanilla and mix to combine.
• Using your oiled scraper or spatula, transfer mixture to the prepared pan. Smooth out the top gently.
• Sprinkle some of the powder (cornstarch + powdered sugar mixture) over marshmallow.
• Let marshmallow sit for a few hours to set. About 6-8 hours.
• Cut marshmallows with an oiled knife. Coat marshmallows in the cornstarch + powdered sugar mixture. Shake them gently to remove excess powder.
• Store in an air tight container for up to 3 weeks at room temperature.

To assemble

• Remove the inside of the cupcakes. Place some of the fudge mixture inside. Top with the cake part. Frost with the buttercream frosting. Drizzle the fudge sauce on top. Place the marshmallow on top. Use a blow torch to toast your marshmallows.
• Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Keyword cupcake