Pipe Dream #14: To Be Little Debbie, Revisited – Homemade Ding Dong Cupcakes

I don’t know if I’ve told you about my obsession with marshmallow creme. Cream. Whatever. I may have alluded to it with these Oatmeal Creme Pies, the other Little Debbie-esque recipe I posted. If not, let me just tell you.

I am obsessed with marshmallow creme. Slash marshmallows in general. Add marshmallow creme into whatever proposal you are trying to swing, and I’m there.

Some Examples of Proposals That Are 100% More Effective With The Addition of Marshmallow Creme:

– “Lauren, will you peel, core and slice 1000 apples by hand for me? I will spoon feed you marshmallow creme the entire time.”

-“Lauren, will you spend the day wallowing in a pool of self-doubt, despair and misery in order to save the rainforest? I’ll swirl in some marshmallow creme, no charge.

-“Lauren, will you marry me? I am a marshmallow creme maker. I live in a factory of marshmallow creme production.”

Now, you may think I am exaggerating.

And you are right. I am exaggerating. But I do love marshmallow creme. I would eat it with a spoon.

These cupcakes are kind of food blog trendy, so I’ve had the idea in mind for some time. Because they are so trendy, you could google this and come up with 1000 blogs with similar recipes, all of which look prettier than mine. For me, these are more about getting to eat marshmallow creme.

I toyed with the idea of making my own marshmallow creme for them in the form of a 7-minute frosting, hearing that it was “marshmallow frosting.” Given that I was going a bit psycho/lazy on a Saturday baking extravaganza, I tried to make this meringue frosting in a bowl that was, ahem, less than clean, and it didn’t whip up quite the way I wanted. At that point in the day, however, I was too fatigued to care, so really, what you see is what you get with these guys.

I have such issues with meringues. Meringues 3 Lauren 2.

Oh, but did I mention they were delicious?

Oh look! Friends! P.s. Guess it’s Halloween today. Hopefully someone gives you one of those chocolate covered marshmallow deals.

Homemade Ding Dong Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

I used this basic one-bowl chocolate cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart. I’ve used it loads of times, and you can find it on my blog here. My only tip on this is DON’T OVERFILL THE LINERS. Bad news.

For the filling:

7-Minute Frosting

From Martha Stewart Living

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the heatproof bowl of a VERY CLEAN electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine sugar, corn syrup, 1/4 cup water, and egg whites. You could use a double boiler for this part, or just a metal bowl, and then transfer the contents to a mixer bowl when ready. Be careful not to get any water from the double boiler in the mixing bowl if you go that route. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes.

Attach bowl to a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat mixture on high speed until glossy, cool and doubled in size, about 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Use immediately.

Alternately, you could use a marshmallow fluff/powdered sugar mixture to fill theses babies. That would be yummy.

For the topping:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon butter

Melt the butter and chips in the microwave, stirring every twenty seconds or so until melted. Don’t let the stuff burn.

Alternately, you could use chocolate ganache to top these. In retrospect, I should have done that.

To assemble:

Set aside a bit of the 7 minute frosting in a piping bag fitted with a small circle tip. This is for decorating the cupcakes later. A nicer alternative might be a royal icing, but I was too lazy to make some.

Remove cupcakes from liners (or don’t) and cut out a circle of cake from the top of each. They call this “the cone method.” I always reserve the very top of the piece I cut out to put back on top of the filling. Fill each hole with 7 minute frosting and replace the cake piece over the hole. Swirl each top with melted chocolate and let set for a bit. Using the reserved frosting, pipe the classic Hostess swirl on top of each cupcake.

15 Responses to “Pipe Dream #14: To Be Little Debbie, Revisited – Homemade Ding Dong Cupcakes”

Feed for this Entry Trackback Address

1 cravesadventure October 31, 2012 at 11:23 am

Looks delicious and probably cannot eat just one too! Happy Halloween!
2 Cindy and Tom Behling November 1, 2012 at 7:35 pm

I was around at the creation of the original Hostess cupcake….yes Lauren, I am that old….and I happen to think this was the best commercial cupcake made outside of a hometown bakery. Today it is not the same nummy box confection it used to be…rather disappointing in the taste, amount and texture of cream filling. Salivating while just looking at your version, I think this has to be the next goodie made in the kitchen. We are on Day 2 of our Pumpkin Dessert, and I fear it won’t last until bedtime….
3 limerick self storage April 24, 2013 at 5:12 am

Hi there to every single one, it’s in fact a pleasant for me to visit this web site, it includes important Information.
4 gifts for a bridal shower May 24, 2013 at 12:32 am

I am now not sure the place you are getting your info, but great topic.

I needs to spend a while learning more or working out more.
Thank you for great information I used to
be looking for this information for my mission.
5 memory foam mattress back pain May 26, 2013 at 1:45 pm

I am regular reader, how are you everybody? This piece of
writing posted at this website is genuinely fastidious.
6 http://tinyurl.com/ June 1, 2013 at 10:37 pm

Hi there to every one, the contents existing at this website are truly remarkable for people
knowledge, well, keep up the good work fellows.
7 pool company in Cypress July 28, 2013 at 6:53 am

1 It is the pool service staten island from a nearby car repair shop.
Clorox, which said earlier this year it would explore options for the Pool Service Staten Island business, could not be immediately reached for comment.
If your motorcycle tires are improperly maintained, it could lead to
a car mechanic school. Mr Puffer is when he offered to buy the Jeep from us in court, which we paid
for had never been changed and the radiator cap and make sure you have plenty
of water.
8 financial information August 27, 2013 at 11:38 pm

I don’t leave a response, but I looked at a few of the remarks on Pipe Dream #14:
To Be Little Debbie, Revisited – Homemade Ding Dong Cupcakes | piping dreams.
I actually do have a couple of questions for you if you do not mind.
Is it just me or do a few of these comments come across as if they
are written by brain dead visitors? :-P And, if you are posting
at additional social sites, I would like to keep up with you.
Would you list of the complete urls of all your
social networking pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
9 DALLAS VIRTUAL OFFICE August 29, 2015 at 4:30 pm

The following are the benefits that you have to be aware of the most.

You can know all the ins and outs of business and can run a restaurant without fail;
but would you know the first thing about installing
the kitchen grills. For clients, you can target neighborhoods, communities or even companies.
10 online festival November 11, 2015 at 2:36 am

Before Harry Potter series ends, now is the time to
start giving Harry Potter fans some great gifts. Maadi
hasn’t had much luck in terms of bars this year; Tipsy Bar & Lounge
opened, only to close months afterwards.
Winning is more of a bonus, rather than an ultimate goal.
11 Katja January 7, 2016 at 12:49 pm

Look into their years of experience in managing small business
accounts so that you can get professional advice on various financial matters.
Further, amount of loan must be need-based, subject to ceiling
of Rs 25,000 per borrower for purchase of machinery or equipment etc, and meeting working
capital requirement of one operating cycle. When travelling,
for instance, it would be possible to login to your
accounting database and enter transactions on the road.