As I have mentioned many times before, I am a sucker for minis. I love just about anything that is served in a miniature version. If practicality didn’t set in, I probably would own a Mini Cooper – I am that bad. I don’t really consider cupcakes mini cakes though because they are just so mainstream. I do prefer a cupcake to a slice of cake, but I don’t go nuts over them, like I do other miniatures. The other month I came across a picture of mini cupcakes in little condiment holders. I went nuts. They were just about the cutest things I had ever seen. There was only one problem, I only know of one place that has those condiment holders, and that is on the east coast. I actually tried looking for them in Seattle, but had no luck – although I must admit, I didn’t try that hard. I just kept my eyes opened at certain places, and nothing.
So, this summer when I was back east – we went to that place with these holders – Fred’s – just about the greatest hamburger/hotdog joint there is, and I grabbed a whole bunch of those little cups. I couldn’t wait to bake some little morsels and test them out. Then next challenge was to figure out which recipe to use on them. For some reason, ever since I had made this, I couldn’t stop thinking about how the cake was dairy free, but the icing was not. Isn’t that such a waste? If you are dairy-free, that is almost cruel. So – I decided to go entirely dairy-free this time. I swear, you would never know it though – the cake is so moist and delicious, and with the marshmallow frosting – it was like eating a mini devil dog. My grandmother loved these so much, I saw her go through 3 in a matter of minutes. So – if you are a sucker for minis like me, give these a try – you just have to figure out where to get the cups, the rest is easy – I did all the work for you below.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- Nonstick vegetable oil spray
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (3 1/2 ounces)
Marshmallow Frosting
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat bottom and sides of pan with nonstick spray; line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Whisk flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add oil, vanilla, and 1 1/4 cups water; whisk until smooth. Fold in chopped chocolate. Scrape into prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until a tester comes out clean when inserted into center, 35–40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
Marshmallow Frosting
Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Combine the egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, water, and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Set the bowl over the simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
With an electric mixer on high-speed, beat the mixture, still over the simmering water, until thick and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. Serve this the day it is made as it becomes granular if it sits.
Makes about 3 cups.
For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Dairy-Free Mini Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting
First Look, Then Cook 