Snowball Cupcakes

Moist chocolate cupcakes, topped with a mound of fluffy marshmallow frosting, and coated in pretty pastel coconut!  These colorful snowball cupcakes make such a fun springtime treat!

Today I am on my way down to Washington DC with my friend Kellie, for the IACP Conference!  I’m very excited to get away for a couple days, meet some new peeps, and hopefully learn a lot.  But I am especially excited because, when I get back home, my kitchen will have undergone what I am hoping will be an incredible transformation!

After nearly 15 years of living with brown stained cabinetry, I’ve finally decided to go light and bright!  It occurred to me slowly, after I noticed myself pinning the same white kitchen with white subway tile backsplash, over and over again, that hello!  This is my kinda kitchen!  My kitchen should look like this!  White on the uppers, gray on the lowers (my husband and kids are suuuuper hard on stuff so hopefully it will show dirt/scuffs less), and brushed brass hardware.  I can’t wait to get home on Sunday night and walk into a (sorta) brand new kitchen!

But for now I’m so happy to share these adorable cupcakes with you!

Do you remember Hostess Snowball Cakes?  They were like a marshmallow ball, rolled in pink coconut, with a chocolate cake center.  Kids just go crazy for them, I guess because of the color.

These cupcakes are a riff on that childhood favorite, only waaaaay better.  Because: homemade.  Homemade is always better, but I know I don’t have to tell you that 😉

Also, these come in all the pretty spring colors, not just pink.

It all begins with THE BEST chocolate cupcake recipe in the universe.  I can say that because I am super picky when it comes to homemade cupcakes.  IMO, a chocolate cupcake needs to be intensely dark chocolate-y, uber moist, and soft as a baby lamb.  But!  Sturdy enough to handle plenty of fluffy frosting.  And bonus points if it’s easy to make and all happens in one bowl.  Check, check, check, checkity check-check!

They get topped with a marshmallow-y Italian meringue.  So light and heavenly, and just bursting with sweet vanilla flavor!  You could also try 7-minute frosting, but honestly, I find this recipe to be much more stable.  For some reason, whenever I make 7-minute frosting it’s always kinda loose and it doesn’t hold it’s shape real well.  You are going to dollop a big mound of frosting on these cakes, to really get that snowball effect, and so you need a frosting that can keep it together and not slump all down the sides of the cupcakes.

Then, all you need to do is divide your sweetened flaked coconut into 4 equal portions, and put 3 of those into zip-top bags.  Use a toothpick to add a tiny drop of gel-paste icing color to each.  The colors I used were Rose Pink, Lemon Yellow, and Royal Blue.  (The fourth portion just gets left white.)  Then, just shake/scrunch it all around until it’s even.  It’s actually kinda fun!  If you have kiddos this is a perfect job for them to “help” with.

Empty the baggies into bowls, and then just upend the cupcakes into the tinted coconut!  It’s that simple!

I hope you enjoy these pastel coconut cupcakes as much as my family and I did!  I just think they’d be perfect for Easter Sunday!

And I’ll keep ya posted on the kitchen job, if you’re into that kind of thing.  Have a great weekend, everybody!

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Snowball Cupcakes

Prep Time

45 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

Moist chocolate cupcakes are topped with a mound of fluffy marshmallow frosting, and coated in pretty pastel coconut! These colorful snowball cupcakes make such a fun spring time treat!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocolate, coconut, Cupcakes, Marshmallow, snowball

Servings: 30 cupcakes

Calories: 266 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 batch Simply Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes
• 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, divided
• 1 drop Rose Pink icing color
• 1 drop Lemon Yellow icing color
• 1 drop Royal Blue icing color
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup water
• 6 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Bake and cool the cupcakes, according to the recipe.

2. Divide the coconut into 4 equal portions.  Set aside 1 portion to remain white.  

3. Place the other 3 portions into small zip-top bags, and add a drop of gel paste food coloring (Rose Pink, Lemon Yellow, and Royal Blue) to each. 

4. Zip the bags and shake/scrunch to disperse the color evenly throughout the coconut. Set aside.

5. Place 1 3/4 cup sugar in a medium pot, along with the corn syrup and water.  

6. Heat over medium-high until the syrup comes to a boil. 

7. Allow the syrup to reach a temperature of 240 degrees F (soft ball stage).

8. Meanwhile, whip the egg whites with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, until they are glossy and stiff.

9. When the sugar syrup has reached 240 degrees, carefully pour it into a large, heat-safe, spouted vessel.  Slowly and carefully add the syrup, in a thin stream, to the whipped egg whites, while running the mixer on low speed.  

10. When all the syrup has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high and whip until very stiff. Stir in the vanilla extract.

11. Use an ice cream scoop to top each cupcake with frosting.  Immediately dip the tops of the cupcakes into the tinted coconut, turning to coat evenly.

Recipe Video

Nutrition Facts

Snowball Cupcakes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 266 Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 10g 15%

Saturated Fat 7g 35%

Cholesterol 38mg 13%

Sodium 106mg 4%

Potassium 130mg 4%

Total Carbohydrates 41g 14%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 33g

Protein 3g 6%

Vitamin C 0.1%

Calcium 0.3%

Iron 1.1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.