Guest Post with Gingerbread Bagels-Sno-Ball Cupcakes

You know I won’t leave you, my dear readers, without something delicious to dream about while I’m busy this week!

Lindsey from Gingerbread Bagels is one wonderful baker I was lucky to meet through my food blog. She is a sweetheart! Lindsey makes the most amazing desserts and if you haven’t checked out her blog before, go and do it now! I am so happy she’s my friend and I appreciate her taking the time to put together this super fabulous guest post for me!

I kind of made it obvious to Lindsey that I wanted her to do the Sno-Ball Cupcakes for this guest post. This was part of Lindsey’s 24 x 24 post that she put together for Foodbuzz. Of all the desserts that she did for that post, this one struck me the most! I love PINK and I love coconut (and chocolate!). This cupcake is something I will be making when I feel better. Here is Lindsey and her Sno-Ball Cupcakes!

Words can't even express how much my dear friend Lora means to me. I feel so blessed to call her my friend and have her in my life. When I heard that Lora would be having surgery, I was absolutely heartbroken. I'll never understand why something like this can happen to someone so caring, so giving and so sweet. But I do know that Lora is a strong and beautiful woman and will beat this. I am so honored to be doing a guest post for her.

My name is Lindsey and my blog is Gingerbread Bagels. I love all things sweet and when you visit my blog, you're sure to get a sugar high. ;)

When I was a kid, I was in love with Hostess Snacks. (Come on, you know you were too! ) They were so artery clogging good and I have fond memories of the glorious Sno-Ball Cupcake. A chocolate cake filled with vanilla cream, covered in marshmallow and colored sweetened flaked coconut. Pure sugar bliss.

Making The Sno-Ball Cupcakes…

Make my Black Magic Cupcakes or your favorite chocolate cake recipe or just use a box mix. But don’t use cupcake liners, just spray the cupcake pan with non-stick spray. And don’t fill the cupcakes up too much! They should look like this once they’re baked:

Once the cupcakes are done baking, begin on the marshmallow cream. This will be used for the inside of the Sno-Ball cupcakes and the outside.

In a large mixing bowl with the paddle attachment (a handheld mixers works fine), mix together 1 cup (2 sticks) of softened unsalted butter, two 13 ounce jars of marshmallow cream and 2 teaspoon of vanilla. So simple!

Put the marshmallow cream in a piping bag fitted with a large round decorating tip. Turn the cooled cupcake upside down, poke a hole in it with the decorating tip and squeeze the filling in. Continue doing this with all of the cupcakes.

Turn them back over and place the cupcakes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pipe the marshmallow cream around the cupcake, starting from the bottom and working your way up. The piping doesn’t have to be perfect.

Take a knife and spread the marshmallow cream around the cupcake. If it begins to stick, sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

If you need more marshmallow cream, just make some more. Moving onto the colored coconut.
Empty a (14 ounce) package of sweetened flaked coconut into a container and put a couple of drops of pink food coloring on the coconut.

Shake it up to coat all of the coconut with the food coloring.

Pat the colored coconut down onto the cupcakes. The baking sheet of cupcakes will look messy, don’t worry.


Transfer them over to another baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put your hand around the cupcakes and press the coconut down more firmly.


Displaying The Sno-Ball Cupcakes…

Color some more coconut like you did for the Sno-Ball Cupcakes. Use a different color for the coconut. Place the coconut on a cake plate and then display the Sno-Ball Cupcakes on top.



Sno-Ball Cupcakes

Black Magic Cupcake Recipe
1 3/4 cup flour, sifted
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed strong coffee, make sure it’s hot!

Marshmallow Cream Recipe
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 (13 ounce) jars marshmallow cream
1 (14 ounce) package of  sweetened flaked coconut
Liquid food coloring – any color
For the Sno-Ball Cupcakes, you can either make my Black Magic Cupcake recipe or use your favorite chocolate cake recipe. Or a box mix works just fine too.

To make the Black Magic Cupcake Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix together.
In medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup canola oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and 2 large eggs.

Prepare the coffee maker and start brewing 1 cup of STRONG HOT coffee. It’s important that the coffee is very hot when you add it to the batter because if it isn’t, your batter will have a lot of lumps and the cupcakes will sink in the middle.
Turn the mixer of low and slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until somewhat combined.

Slowly pour in the 1 cup of strong hot brewed coffee. Mix until barely combined.

There may be some lumps in the batter but there shouldn’t be too many. Use a spatula and give the batter a stir to incorporate it a bit more. The batter will be VERY thin, like liquid.
Pour the batter into a measuring cup.

Lightly grease the inside of the cupcake pan. Carefully pour the batter almost half way into each one. You
don’t want to fill these cupcakes as much as you typically would for cupcakes. I use a paper towel to wipe off the dripping batter after pouring each one. It can get messy!

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-15 minutes. Don’t open the oven up they’re done, you don’t want them to sink in the middle!
Cool the cupcakes in the cupcake pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove from the pan and let them cool completely on a cooling rack before filling

To make the marshmallow cream:

While the cupcakes are cooling, began on the marshmallow cream. In a large mixing bowl with the paddle attachment (a handheld mixer works fine), mix together 1 cup of softened unsalted butter and 2 (13 ounce) jars of marshmallow cream. Mix until completely combined.

Fit a piping bag with a large round decorating tip. Fill the piping bag with the marshmallow cream.
Turn the cupcake upside down and poke the decorating tip into the bottom of the cupcake. Squeeze the filling in. Continue filling all of the cupcakes, then turn them over and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Pipe the marshmallow cream around each cupcake. Start from the bottom of the cupcake and work your way to the top of the cupcake. Take a knife or small spatula and spread the marshmallow cream around the cupcake. If it starts to stick, sprinkle the cupcake with powdered sugar. Set them aside while you work on the colored coconut.

To make the colored coconut:

Put the entire package of coconut in an airtight container. Add in the food coloring, put the lid on and shake the container until all of the coconut is colored.
Press the coconut onto the cupcake to cover them in coconut. The baking sheet with the cupcakes will be messy, don’t worry.

Transfer the cupcakes to another baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put your hand around the cupcake and press the coconut onto the cupcake.

Enjoy!


Thank you Lindsey for this super fun cupcake that makes me smile every time I look at it!
Thank you my friends for the well wishes and for keeping me in your prayers! I hope you have a beautiful week!