Halloween’s A Comin’
They are just mini. They are mini marshmallow pumpkins. I want to squeeze them and then I want to eat them.
It’s a little like eating a Peeps (but deliciously homemade) on top of your favorite chocolate cupcake. No, it’s A LOT like that.
Do it for Halloween’s sake.
I know a lot of you won’t have an Ateco number 868 French Star tip hanging around (also referred to as #8B). It’s worth getting for this recipe alone. The large piping tips are only a couple of dollars, and if you don’t have a baking supply store with Ateco products around, hit up Williams-Sonoma or another website.
The tip will come in handy for all sorts of projects after it’s used for mini marshmallow pumpkins. I’ve piped buttercream on larger cupcakes (very cute!), the filling of twice baked potatoes, and choux paste for pretty éclairs.
So, feel free to say “This comes highly recommended,” to the store clerk when purchasing this lovely star tip. She won’t think you’re strange at all.
Other things I would tell you if I were standing right next to you:
•Have a candy thermometer for the marshmallow.
•Make and cool your cupcakes before starting on the marshmallow, so they are ready to go.
•Having a friend handy when making these is awesome, you can pipe, they can sprinkle sugar.
•I dump my orange sugar in a little sheet pan and sprinkle the sugar on the marshmallow over the pan. No mess, and I can transfer any leftover sugar back to a container.
Marshmallow is piped onto cupcakes and covered in crunchy orange sugar. Make cupcakes from a mix or your favorite recipe. Easiest pumpkin patch you’ve ever grown!
Ingredients
- 1 envelope (2¾ tsp) unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 46 mini chocolate cupcakes
- 46 green licorice pastels
- ½ cup orange sanding sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water to soften. Prepare a large piping bag fitted with a #868 French star tip; set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat dissolve granulated sugar in ¼ cup water, stirring. Remove spoon; with a pastry brush, brush inside edges of pan with water to remove sugar crystals and boil until the temperature reaches the soft-ball stage (238ºF) on a candy thermometer. Pour mixture into gelatin without scraping pan, and whisk on medium speed for 3 min. Increase speed to high and whisk until soft peaks form, 8 to 10 min.
- Transfer marshmallow to prepared piping bag and immediately pipe dollops onto the tops of the cupcakes; use your finger to stop the flow of marshmallow from the piping tip and to create a flat top for each pumpkin. (Pipe just 5 pumpkins at a time so marshmallow doesn’t set before you decorate.) Working quickly, add licorice pastel “stems” and coat generously with sanding sugar. Allow pumpkins to set about 1 hr before serving; store covered up to a day.
Notes
Marshmallow is piped onto cupcakes and covered in crunchy orange sugar. Make cupcakes from a mix or your favorite recipe. Easiest pumpkin patch you’ve ever grown!
Recipe and food styling by Tara Bench, originally published in Ladies’ Home Journal, Oct/10. Photography Kate Sears. Prop Stylist Gerri Williams
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