Marshmallow Memories

This last weekend I helped my good friend celebrate the end to her time as a bachelorette. She and I met in the dorms at college, lived together throughout our time at school and I am now serving as a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding.This Saturday night there was Thai food delivered to a Walrus themed hotel room, more cocktail ingredients present than guests, short skirts, loud laughs, plenty of dancing, and marshmallows.

One of my favorite things about my good friend is her sometimes very strange taste in foods. One of her most adored treats is a marshmallow– in any form. Our Sophomore year of college we lived together in a slightly beat up craftsman style house, although I might prefer to remember it as having character. It was college living. Our other roommate had plastered the walls with posters; Mr.Winkle hung beside Scarface. There was a now somewhat regrettable " Seventies Room" complete with a fleet of troll dolls to watch over the orange shag carpet. We could find treasures such as a quesadilla maker in the vast depths of our basement (this was culinary gold at the time). My friend and I lived in the attic of the house in rooms with slanted ceilings, we could only stand up straight in the middle of the room. I am only setting the scene for the many stories that I have from living in that creaky, cold house. That year I bought my dear friend a five-pound bag of mini marshmallows for her birthday. As you might imagine this over-sized bag of marshmallows felt right at home with us. Over a period of time, and not as long as you might think, they were devoured.

A celebration in honor of a marshmallow lover, demands a marshmallow treat (even though earlier this week while watching ODDSAC I silently told myself I probably shouldn’t eat toasted marshmallows again). I decided to attempt the toasted marshmallow frosting made popular by Trophy Cupcakes here in Seattle. I wanted to have the marshmallow fluff top a cupcake that felt like warm sunshine (which we are so desperately lacking right now!). Peach pie cupcakes sounded like they would fit just that. I broke into my peaches I canned last summer, but I think any fresh fruit would do well in these cupcakes. I also tried to recreate the “crust” that Trophy makes in the summertime for their pie-themed cakes.

Peach-Pie Marshmallow Cupcakes
Makes 12 Cupcakes
For the marshmallow topping I followed the recipe by Jennifer Shea of Trophy cupcakes featured here. The recipe worked out very well, and I used a broiler to toast the topping since I don’t have a flame-torch. One note of advice, after a day or two the topping will loose its fluff and become more like a meringue and less like a marshmallow so I would ideally serve them the day they were made.

Cupcake
3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 c. Sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
pinch of salt
1/2 c. butter at room temperature
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. buttermilk
2 c. peaches (or other fruit) diced into small pieces





Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put cupcake liners in a cupcake tin. For crust, combine all crust ingredients in a bowl until combine. Take about 1-2 Tbsp and roll into a ball and place in the cupcake liner. If you have a glass that fits, flatten the ball to fill the liner, or you could use your fingers to flatten them and set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking power, and salt. Whisk to evenly distribute ingredients. In a stand-up mixer with a paddle attachment cream the butter for the cupcakes. Add sugar and cream with butter until light and fluffy. Add each egg, one at a time, and then add vanilla. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, with 3 separate additions each. Do not over mix. Fold in fruit, being careful not to crush the pieces. Fill each cupcake mold on top of the crust layer all the way to the top of the liner. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool before piping marshmallow frosting on in a swirl. I put them under the broiler on the top oven rack for thirty seconds to toast the topping.