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Hi-Top Cupcakes

Source of Recipe

“Cupcakes” by Elinor Klivans


Recipe Introduction

These cupcakes taste wonderful, look fantastic and were very popular with children and adults alike. They are kind of like those chocolate dipped cones at Dairy Queen with a moist chocolate cupcake as the base; a marshmallow Fluff-like filling and a delicious chocolate coating (use your favorite). Much better than Dairy Queen, I promise.

List of Ingredients

CUPCAKES:
1 ½ c. flour
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 c. sugar
½ c. vegetable oil
1 c. cold water
2 t. vanilla
2 T. vinegar

FILLING:
1 ¾ c. sugar
¼ c. water
3 large egg whites
¼ t. cream of tartar
1 t. vanilla
½ t. almond extract

CHOCOLATE COATING:
2 c. (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate
3 T. vegetable oil



Recipe

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

CUPCAKES:
Line a cupcake tin with liners and set aside. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. In a 2-cup measuring cup, measure and mix together the oil, water, and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix the batter with a fork or a small whisk. When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. There will be pale swirls in the batter where the baking soda and the vinegar are reacting. Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Working quickly, distribute the batter into the lined cupcake tin. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes, remove from pan and then cool completely.

FILLING:
Put the sugar, water, egg whites, and cream of tartar in a heatproof container or the top of a double boiler with at least a 2 qt. capacity and beat with a handheld electric mixer on high speed until opaque, white and foamy, about 1 minute. Put the bowl over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler).

The top container should sit firmly over the pan of hot water; be sure to keep the cord of the electric mixer away from the burner. Beat on high speed until the frosting forms a stiff peak that stands straight up if you stop the beaters and lift them out of the mixture, about 12 minutes. The frosting should register 160 degrees on a thermometer [mine never got that hot, but I judged it by it’s stiffness and it turned out fine]. Remove the container from the water, add the extracts, and continue beating for 2 minutes to further thicken the filling. The filling will become firmer as it cools on the finished cupcakes.

Spoon the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a large plain pastry tip or a large plastic freezer bag with a ½” long hole cut in one corner. Leaving a 1/8” plain edge on each cupcake, pipe a spiral of filling into a 2” high cone shaped mound on top of each one, using about ½ c. of filling per cupcake. Place the filled cupcakes on a platter and refrigerator, uncovered, while you prepare the coating.

CHOCOLATE COATING:
Melt the chocolate and oil together. Stir until smooth. Put into a small bowl [I used a coffee mug for this part – it worked great]. Cool about 15 minutes.

Holding each cupcake by its bottom, dip the top of the mound of filling in the chocolate coating, letting any excess drip off, then spoon ore coating over the unfilled edge of the cupcake and over the rest of the filling to coat it; none of the white filing should show. (You will have some chocolate coating left for another use, but it is easier to work with a larger quantity of chocolate coating.) Let the cupcakes sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes to firm the coating slightly.

Peel off the paper lines and discard them. Return the cupcakes to the platter and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to se the coating, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve cold.

NOTE: The cupcakes can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Makes 12 – 15 cupcakes.