Marshmallow Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

These marshmallow cupcakes recipe makes decadently rich dark chocolate cupcakes with velvety smooth chocolate ganache and pillowy mini marshmallows topping. Each bite gives you a lovely combination of the rich chocolate flavor and soft marshmallows for a truly satisfying treat.

These cupcakes are fairly easy to make and are fun to decorate. They are so simple, they can even be used as a decorating project for kids (see the decorating guide below).

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• This is an easy recipe, and uses fairly simple ingredients.
• It makes perfectly chocolatey cupcakes, perfect for chocolate lovers.
• The cupcakes are superbly moist and fluffy.
• As you can see in the recipe card below, I used brown sugar instead of normal granulated sugar (caster sugar) in this cupcake recipe. The use of brown sugar gives these cupcakes a deeper molasses-like taste.
• The use ground almonds in the batter gives the cupcakes a delicious nutty flavor.

📋Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• Butter - I use salted butter. If you are using unsalted butter, add a quarter teaspoon of salt to the flour and baking powder and sift together.
• Soft brown sugar - gives the cupcakes a depth in flavor.
• Eggs - use whole eggs (no need to separate egg whites and egg yolks).
• Self-raising flour + baking powder - mix and sift before combining with other ingredients.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder - sift first to break any lumps.
• Ground almond - adds a lovely nutty flavor to the chocolate cupcakes.
• Chocolate chips - can use mini chocolate chips or the regular sized chips.
• Milk - use whole milk for rich chocolate cupcakes.
• Vanilla extract - adds a lovely aroma and flavor to the cupcakes.

Chocolate Ganache

• Dark chocolate - chop into small uniform pieces for easy and quick tempering.
• Heavy cream - use whipping cream with at least 35% fat for best results.

Decoration

• Mini Marshmallows (white and pink)
• Chocolate chips

*Refer to the recipe card below for exact quantities of the ingredients above. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*

🧾Substitution and variations

• Self raising flour can be substituted with all purpose flour and baking powder. For every 225g of all purpose flour, add one and half teaspoons of baking powder. Mix well and sift at least 3 times before using. To make 320g of self raising flour, add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to 320g of all purpose flour.
• Whole milk can be substituted with almond milk or oat milk. You can also use skimmed milk.
• If you prefer your cupcakes with an almond flavor instead, replace the vanilla extract with almond extract.
• If you don't have ground almonds, you can easily make them on your own by grinding or processing almonds into fine powder.
• I used dark chocolate chips in the cupcakes. They complemented the dark chocolate cupcake batter very well. Having said that, you have an option to replace these with bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate or even white chocolate chips.
• Or you can even leave the chocolate chips totally out of your cupcakes. This will not alter the texture of your cupcakes.

This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you do try, please let me know in the comments section below!

👩🏻‍🍳How to make

Mixing the batter

• The cupcake batter is mixed using the creaming method. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl of a stand mixer (if using a stand mixer) at medium speed until light and fluffy with an electric mixer (electric hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment).
• Next, add in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl half way through.
• Once the eggs are well combined, fold in the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder) alternately with the milk into the creamed wet ingredients. Start and end with the flour mixture. Next, add the ground almonds and vanilla and mix well. Finally, add 3 parts of the chocolate chips (reserve the remaining one part for the topping). Mix until well combined.
• Pour the cupcake batter into prepared cupcake liners or muffin cup (with an ice cream scoop). These paper liners should be placed in cupcake tins so that they do not lose their shape. Fill the cupcake liners to about ¾ full and bake.
• Once baked, let the cupcakes rest in the cupcake pan for a few minutes. Transfer and place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool further.

Making the ganache

• While waiting for the cupcakes, prepare the ganache. Chop chocolate into small pieces. Place in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
• Place the cream in a separate medium bowl (heatproof). Double boil until the cream turns hot (you will see tiny bubbles forming around the edges of the cream in the bowl).
• Pour the hot cream into the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for about one minute and then stir slowly until the chocolate is all melted and smooth.
• Let the ganache cool completely before using on the cupcakes.

Decorating the moist chocolate cupcakes

Here is how to do it, step by step:

• Once baked, cool cupcakes completely to room temperature before decorating.

• Cover each cupcake with a smooth layer of ganache. 

• Next is the decorating part. Pour the mini marshmallows into a small bowl and chose the pink ones for the first layer on the cupcakes. While the ganache was still soft, attach the marshmallows all around the diameter of the cupcakes.

• Next, take some white marshmallows and arrange them all around the inside of the pink marshmallows circle.

• And then the final layer of mini marshmallows is in pink. Arrange the marshmallows in the center of the cupcake such that they are well distributed on the cupcake and there is no apparent gap that could be seen in between each marshmallow.

• Next were the chocolate chips. To make sure these chips stayed in place on each of the marshmallows, use ganache as the 'glue'. Fill the remaining ganache into a piping bag and snip the tip of the piping bag for a tiny hole. Attach the chocolate chips with tiny dots of ganache on the middle and center marshmallow circles.

• And completes the chocolate marshmallow cupcakes.
• I made 2 versions of this delicious cupcake design, using the pink and white layers in different combinations as can be seen below. You can make them in any combination you like.

🍽️Serving & storage

• These marshmallow cupcakes can last for a good 4 to 5 days at room temperature. Make sure to keep them covered and away from moisture.
• If you wish to keep them longer, refrigerate them in an airtight container. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

💡Expert tips

• Do not overbake the cupcakes. This will ensure a moist texture. Test them a few minutes before the baking time is up by inserting a cake tester or a skewer in the center. If the tester comes out without any wet batter sticking to it, they are done and can be removed from the oven.
• When cooling the cupcakes, keep them covered with a kitchen towel. That will prevent them from becoming dry.

💭FAQs

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📖Recipe

Marshmallow Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

These marshmallow cupcakes are pleasantly intense with chocolate and combines so perfectly well with the ground almonds and marshmallows. They taste so good, its hard to stop with just one cupcake!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Decorating Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Yield: 10 cupcakes

Author: Priya Maha

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Metric - US Customary

For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• ▢ 225 g butter salted
• ▢ 450 g soft brown sugar
• ▢ 3 eggs
• ▢ 320 g self-raising flour
• ▢ 60 g cocoa powder
• ▢ 75 g ground almonds
• ▢ 100 g chocolate chips
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ¾ cup milk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache

• ▢ 150 g heavy cream
• ▢ 150 g dark chocolate

Decoration

• ▢ Mini Marshmallows
• ▢ Chocolate Chips

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Prepare your cupcake liners.
• Preheat oven to 170°Celsius.
• Beat butter and brown sugar till light and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and until mixture becomes pale and fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Fold in the sifted ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with milk, starting and ending with flour. Do not over mix.
• Add in the ground almond and vanilla extract and combine well. Finally mix three parts of the chocolate chips into the batter. Keep the remaining one part aside. Pour the well mixed batter into baking cups. Fill each cup about two thirds full.
• Top the batter with the remaining chocolate chips that were set aside earlier. Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out without any wet batter sticking to it.
• Let the cupcakes cool down completely before decorating.
• To make the ganache, chop chocolate into small pieces. Place it in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
• Double boil the cream (in a separate heatproof bowl) until it starts to bubble on the sides. Pour the hot cream into the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for about one minute before stirring.
• Continue to stir until the chocolate is all melted and smooth. Set the warm ganache aside until it cools down completely.
• To decorate the cupcakes, apply a layer of chocolate gananche to the top of each cupcake.
• Arrange the mini marshmallows in circles, on each ganache covered cupcake. Alternate the colors of the marshmallows between each layer.
• Finally, top the mini marshmallows with more chocolate chips with ganache.

Notes

• Do not overbake the cupcakes to ensure a moist texture. Test them a few minutes before the baking time is up by inserting a cake tester or a skewer in the center. If the tester comes out without any wet batter sticking to it, they are done and can be removed from the oven.
• When cooling the cupcakes, keep them covered with a kitchen towel. That will prevent them from becoming dry.

Nutrition

Calories: 725.7kcal | Carbohydrates: 87.2g | Protein: 10.7g | Fat: 39.8g | Saturated Fat: 22.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8.9g | Trans Fat: 0.7g | Cholesterol: 117.1mg | Sodium: 213.2mg | Potassium: 384.8mg | Fiber: 5.4g | Sugar: 54.9g | Vitamin A: 890.2IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 140.7mg | Iron: 3.8mg

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