As a Mom to a 2 year old & almost 4 month old baby. I am always looking for quick and easy recipes to make… but also, ways to elevate them and make them my own. I want to try and make this series, but not sure what to call it yet. But for the purpose of making this quick and time efficient as possible for the parent that doesn’t have a lot of time to make everything from scratch this recipe is for you! Obviously, if you want to make the cake from scratch go right ahead.
Full Disclosure though, the frosting I chose for this cupcake is not the easiest.. but it definitely isn’t hard. So of course, if you want to make a buttercream or use the canned frosting.. go right ahead!
What you will need..
- White Boxed Cake
- Red Pop Rocks – Cherry or Strawberry which ever flavor you prefer
- Mini Marshmallows
- Blue Gel Food Dye
- Purple Gel Food Dye
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Light Corn Syrup
- Vanilla Extract
- Blue Sprinkles (Optional)
- Electric Handheld Mixer (optional)
- Double Broiler (optional, sort of)
Now Let’s Begin!
I began with a white boxed cake mix. I chose white because that way it would be easiest to get a nice blue cupcake once baked. Follow the instructions for the cake on the box and then add your food dye. Make sure to have a regular blue and purple GEL dye. Add a decent a mount of blue dye and then a drop or two of purple. Adding the purple ensures it will stay a darker blue. Once you have baked the cupcakes make sure to put them in the fridge to chill as you make the frosting.
The frosting I used is a Marshmallow frosting. What i like about this frosting is it is light and airy and not overly sweet. If you have a double broiler than use it here, if not than use two pots on top of each other like a double broiler (be careful) or a heat tempered glass bowl like people use to melt chocolate.
The Recipe
- 2 Egg Whites
- 1/3 Cup Cold Water
- 1 1/2 Cups White Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tsp. Light Corn Syrup
- 1/2 Tbs. Vanilla Extract
- 1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
- Bring water to boil in pot make sure it’s less than half the pot you don’t want the water to touch the bottom of your double broiler/second pot/Glass bowl.
- Add Egg Whites, Sugar, Cold Water and Corn Syrup in the pot/bowl that will go on top and mix together. Than lower heat to Med-High and place pot/bowl on top. Using an Electric Mixer (you COULD do this by with a whisk but it will take a lot of arm power and A LOT more time) start mixing the ingredients together until it forms stiff peaks and appears meringue like.
- Take off heat and add Marshmallows and Vanilla and Mix together until Marshmallows have melted. Then let sit for a few minutes to cool down.
Once everything has cooled down you can follow this extra step. Cut small hole in middle of the cupcakes and add some pop rocks to the middle and then frost the top for a little extra surprise. Or you can just frost the top of the cupcakes and sprinkle the pop rocks on top, as well as the optional blue sprinkles.