Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Marshmallow Buttercream

Chocolate Cupcakes:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare your baking pans with cupcake liners. You can either make 18 large cupcakes or 24 medium cupcakes.
3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla.
5. Add the milk/egg mixture to dry ingredients, and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until the batter is smooth.
6. Pour the cupcake batter evenly into the cupcake liners. Gently tap the pans on the countertop to remove air bubbles.
7. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes (on the shorter end of time for smaller cupcakes), or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.
8. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Marshmallow Buttercream:

1. While the cupcakes are baking you can make the marshmallow buttercream.
2. Sift the icing sugar (confectioners sugar). Set aside.
3. In a mixer, beat the butter until it is soft and fluffy, this process should take at least 10 minutes. You’ll have to scrape the sides of the bowl several times.
4. Add the sifted icing sugar, and mix until smooth.
5. Add the vanilla and heavy cream 1 tsp at a time, and beat until smooth. Note: add the heavy cream 1 tsp at a time to get the consistency of icing that you want.  I like mine not too soft and not stiff either…so I usually end up adding about 2 tsp.
6. Beat in the marshmallow fluff until smooth.
7. Add in a few drops of red food colouring until you get the pink colour you want.
8. Decorate your cupcakes:  I used a Wilton 1M tip to make the icing roses.