Cupcake Hero: Ambrosia Cupcakes

I’d first like to thank Laurie for still being my friend, as this is my first Cupcake Hero entry. I know, I’m a bad, bad friend.

This month’s ingredient theme for Cupcake Hero was marshmallow. The very first thing that came to my mind was smores, and I’m pretty sure that was the first thing that popped into about everyone else’s head. After seeing a number of smores entries show up in my Google Reader, I decided to rethink my approach. I was brainstorming all of the wonderful things that I have eaten that contained marshmallows in some way, shape, or form. A few popped into my mind, but I kept coming back to one – Ambrosia.

For those that have never had it, ambrosia is basically a “salad” of fruit cocktail, Cool Whip, coconut, and miniature marshmallows. My grandma used to make this all of the time around some holidays, but it mostly reminds me of Easter. It’s such a light dessert and Easter is typically the gateway holiday to warmer weather. So here we are, the week after Easter and I had to do something with marshmallows – Ambrosia Cupcakes it was!

These cupcakes are made with a base of fruit cocktail cake, then freshly whipped cream is piped into the centers (you’ll see that I didn’t quite pipe deep enough), topped with a marshmallow creme frosting, sprinkled with coconut, and, just for good measure, topped with a cherry. I had never made homemade marshmallow creme before and, wow, that’s dangerous to have sitting around! So good!

Fruit Cocktail Cupcakes
(Adapted from Cake & Frosting Recipes)

This can easily be scaled in half for only 6 cupcakes.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15-oz) can fruit cocktail

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cupcake tins with paper holders. Whisk together dry ingredients. Add in wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined. Fill cupcake tins evenly, and bake for 20 minutes or until thin knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Homemade Marshmallow Creme
(Source: Phe/MOM/enon)

2 large egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Combine the ingredients in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly until thick and hot to the touch. Remove from heat and using either a handheld electric mixer at high speed or standing mixer with whisk attachment until thick and glossy, about 10 minutes.

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