Sarsaparilla Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

   

A little while ago I said wanted this Marshmallow Frosting on everything. I wasn't kidding.


Sarsaparilla Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting
Cupcakes adapted from Smitten Kitchen, Frosting from Food Network
Makes 12

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Sarsaparilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
55g unsalted butter
135g caster sugar
50g brown sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the Frosting:
5 tablespoons cool water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/3 cups caster sugar
2 egg whites, room temperature
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.

Place the Sarsaparilla, cocoa powder and butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the butter has melted. Add both sugars and whisk to combine. Remove from heat ans set aside to cool. Once cool, beat in the egg.

Whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a large bowl. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, being careful not to over-mix. The batter will be very wet and lumpy, that's okay.

Fill each paper case about 2/3 full and bake for about 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Set aside on a wire rack to cool completely

Pipe the marshmallow frosting in swirls on top of each cupcake (then pipe any left-over frosting directly into your mouth :)


Make the Frosting:
Fill a pan with 4cm water and bring it to the boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Combine the water with the cream of tartar, vanilla, sugar and egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Place the bowl over a pan the pan of boiled water. Use and electric hand beater to whip the egg whites over the water. Do not stop beating until this process is finished.

After about 3 minutes, remove the bowl from the heat and take the temperature of the egg whites. You want them to reach 60 degrees C. If the temperature hasn't reached that point, pop the bowl back of the water and keep beating until they do. (Mine took about 7 minutes.) It should look like marshmallow - poufy and shiny. Allow the mixture to cool.