Comfort Foods: Snowball Cupcakes

Ole’ man winter hit hard this year. Starting with a white Christmas, we have had our share of snowstorms in January, including a snow day! Growing up in Ohio, I was used to lots and lots of snow—the blizzard of ’78 (coupled with budget cuts) closed schools in my hometown for a month. Even with a month’s worth of schoolwork to finish at home, it still gave lots of time to play in the snow and ice. When it snowed here two weeks ago, Sophie and I made snow angels, took pictures and tried to catch snowflakes on our tongues as we frolicked in the snow.

A dear friend and fellow food blogger, Linda Skelcy (www.thegoodcooknj.blogspot.com) posted pictures of her front porch transformed by the snow and ice on her food blog, along with her recipe for a Snowball Cake. Her recipe inspired me to make a winter comfort food treat for my daughter and her friends to enjoy with hot chocolate on cold winter days. We turned Linda’s recipe into cupcakes, and they are a rich chocolate, fluffy marshmallow bite of deliciousness. Perfect after ice skating, snow man making and igloo building in the snow.

Snowball Cupcakes

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup hot coffee

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

Put everything (starting with the dry ingredients) in a large mixing bowl. Plug in your mixer. Beat on low speed (trust me on this one) until well combined. The batter is very thin.

Pour into paper lined cupcake tims and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, about 20 minutes. Makes 24 cupcakes

Cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then remove onto racks and cool completely before frosting.

Here comes the snowball part:

Marshmallow Frosting:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1/4 salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 bag sweetened coconut flakes

Put all the ingredients except the vanilla and coconut into the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. Stir until the sugar is melted. Using a hand mixer beat the mixture for seven minutes or until light and fluffy. Remove from heat and fold in the vanilla.

Working quickly frost the cupcakes. Sprinkle the coconut onto the frosting.