Vanilla Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Creme Filling and Strawberry Milk Buttercream

Sounds like a mouthful huh?  Well, it is.  A mouthful of heaven.  Boom.  

These cupcakes are utter perfection.  I have to say when I saw this cake from Sweetapolita (she is amazing and makes the most beautiful sweets) I knew I had to make some version of it.  I thought about how to tweak it a bit--not the actual recipe, but the concept.  So I started thinking…. Mr. Schwartz doesn't like chocolate.  Gasp, I know.  I'm not sure how I married him--wait, I know exactly more chocolate for me.  It is all working out as I planned.  Muah ha ha ha. 

But, back to the planning, I didn't want to be stuck with 20 cupcakes to eat on my own and let's be honest, I like to make things for my husband.  So, I turned the malted chocolate frosting into Strawberry Milk frosting, one of Mr. Schwartz's favorite flavors.  It turned out purrrfectly.  I used My Baking Addition's Vanilla Cake recipe and filled the cupcakes with Sweetapolita's Toasted Marshmallow Frosting.  Yeah, you can't go wrong with something like that.  I do have to say that you could use the toasted marshmallow frosting as the actual frosting in it's self or the strawberry milk buttercream solo instead.  It was a little hard to distinguish when they were together.  The strawberry milk buttercream has a very strong (and amazing) flavor on it's own.  Either way, I found my new go-to vanilla cupcake recipe--it is fantastic.  

Musical Selection:  Call Me Maybe by: Carly Rae Jepsen.  Mr. Schwartz just said "That song is horrible."  I assure you, it is not.  It's wonderful. 

 Start by "making cake flour."  I also found this on Sweetapolita's site.  Basically for every cup of flour take out two tablespoons. Easy enough.

 Take the flour and dump it into a mesh strainer--we will be a siftin'

 Add the baking powder

 And salt

 Sift, set aside

 Next, take one stick of butter and put it in the bowl of a stand mixer

 Add white sugar

 Cream together

 Combine the milk and egg whites in a bowl, set aside for now

 Add the vanilla

 And I did a teaspoon of almond extract, you can't really tell it's almond but it makes the cupcakes taste amazing

 Add 1/3 of the flour mixture while beating slowly

 Then add half of the milk and egg white mixture while beating.  You will want to scrape between.  Then add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the remaining milk/egg mixture then the last of the flour mixture.

 Until it looks like this.  Cake batter from the heavens.

 Using a muffin scoop or a measuring cup, coop the batter into a lined cupcake pan.  Bake for 18-24 minutes at 350.  Be sure to not over bake!

 Once the cupcakes have cooled, take a large pastry tip, press in gently and twist to "core" the cupcake.  Unless you are really cool and have a cupcake corer.  Feel free to eat what you remove, it's only fair--you are the baker.

 Cored.

 Toast some marshmallows.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and place the mallows on the pan.  Put them under the broiler and watch closely.

 Perfectly toasted. Set aside for now.

 Add another stick of butter and powdered sugar into the mixing bowl

 Whip.

 Add some canned marshmallow cream

 And the toasted marshmallows

 It looks weird and sticky at first but it will come together.

 Since this part didn't have to be pretty I just used a zip lock bag and cut the corner off of it

 And filled each of the cupcakes.  There was some left over, I may have used it on some graham crackers--it wasn't bad.

 To make the strawberry milk butter creme, you will need white chocolate chips.  Yeah, I forgot to tell you there is white chocolate in it too.

 Melt them in the microwave by putting them in 30 seconds at a time and taking out and stirring, 30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir until they are completely melted.

 Combine 1 lb of butter and 4 cups of powdered sugar in a stand mixer.

 Whip it good.

 This is what it really looks like. Messy.

You will need the goods--Nesquik.

 Add it to the butter and powdered sugar.

 Pretty.

 Add the melted white chocolate and stir to combine.

 Fill your pastry bag and frost away.

 Getting the hang of it : )

 Hello pretty.

Cupcake guts.  I took this after it was in the refrigerator.  I would suggest keeping them in the refrigerator and letting them come to temperature before serving.  That way they are all gooey and delicious.  These stay for a long time, I made them on Monday and brought them to work on Wednesday (I kept them in the fridge) and they were moist and delicious.  They also freeze well.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Creme Filling and Strawberry Milk Buttercream

For the Vanilla Cupcakes: 
Slightly adapted from: here


2 1/4 cups cake flour (or all purpose flour minus 4 tablespoons--this is what I did)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup milk
4 large egg whites
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line you muffin tins with paper liners

In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl whisk together the milk and egg whites.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extract with the paddle attachment.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Add 1/2 of the milk mixture, then beat in half of the remaining flour mixture.  Scrape the side of the bowl and add the remaining milk mixture on medium speed.  Add the remaining flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Once the ingredients are fully combined beat for two minutes to ensure everything is well incorporated.  Scoop into lined muffin tins using a measuring cup or muffin scoop to make sure they are all the same size.

Bake for 18-24 minutes or until they are just barely golden brown on the top.  Don't over bake.  Let cool on a wire rack.


For the Toasted Marshmallow Creme Filling: 
Slightly modified from: here


8 large marshmallows
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 stick of butter at room temperature
4 oz Marshmallow Cream (Marshmallow Fluff)

Place marshmallows on a baking sheet that has been sprayed heavily with cooking spray.  Place on the bottom wrack under the broiler on high and watch until golden brown and melty.  Take out of the oven and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on.  Add the marshmallow cream and toasted marshmallows.  Whip until combined.  Set aside.


For the Strawberry Milk Frosting: 
Modified from: here


1 lb (or 4 sticks) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups of powdered sugar
3/4 cup Strawberry Nesquik powder
1 cup white chocolate chips

Add the white chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl and put in the microwave in 30 second intervals.  Stir after ever 30 seconds and return to the microwave until fully melted.  Set aside.

Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the Nesquik and mix to combine.  Scrape the sides and add the melted white chocolate chips.  Whip together for a minute on medium high speed.


To Assemble: 


Core the cupcakes using a large pastry tip or cupcake corer.  Fill a zip top bag with the toasted marshmallow buttercream and snip one of the corners off.  Fill the cupcakes with this.

Fill a pastry bag with your preferred tip (I used a Wilton 1M).  Frost your cupcakes.

Tips:  Keep cupcakes in the refrigerator and they stay nice and moist for at least 4 days.  Before enjoying/serving, place on the counter so they come to room temperature.  Also, I frosted my cupcakes in the cupcake carrier since I knew I was bringing them to work, that way they would be pretty when they arrived.

Enjoy!