These marshmallow hot chocolate cupcakes with a rich hot cocoa flavor and a festive marshmallow frosting filling, are eggless, and dairy free with a gluten free option and ready in under an hour.
Activate your milk by adding lemon juice to it and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Make cake
To the large mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients and mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer at medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth.
1 cup dairy-free milk, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ⅓ cup pumpkin puree, 3 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Add the dry ingredients through a strainer.
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup cocoa, 1 cup cane sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
Add the dry ingredients through a strainer to the wet mixture, and mix at medium speed about 2 minutes or until combined, but don't over mix.
Add the batter about ¾ full to each cupcake liner using a medium cookie scoop.
Bake cupcakes for 18 minutes. Or until tester comes out clean.
Let cool for ten minutes, then put cupcakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool before assembling (see instructions on how to cut out the center and cap below)
Make frosting
Melt 2-3 marshmallows in the microwave for 10 seconds. Stir and repeat if they aren't melted. Add the melted marshmallows to a large mixing bowl, as well as the sugar, butter and vanilla and just 1 tablespoon of the milk to a large mixing bowl.
Use a hand-mixer or an electric mixer to combine. Add the remaining 2 tablespoon of milk gradually until you have a creamy consistency. You can add more or less milk, but be careful, it can turn too liquidy very fast.
Add frosting to a frosting bag, cut the tip so the opening is about 1 inch wide or use a round tip.
Assemble the Cupcakes
Cut a cone out of the center of each cooled cupcakes using the tip of knife held at an angle. Fill the space with frosting and allow a pillow to form on top, and top with the removed cone of cake.
Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Store
Once frosted, the cupcakes are fine at room temperature for about 3 days and then they begin to dry out.
To store cupcakes long term, assemble them and then pack them in an air-tight container and freezer for a month.
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Notes
Make ahead. To make these cupcakes a month in advance, bake them, let them cool completely and wrap each cupcake in cling wrap and then put them in a freezer container or bag and put them in the freezer. They will last about 1 month.To store baked, cooled cupcakes for 3 days after baking, add them to a sealed container and refrigerate for about 3 days before frosting. To store frosted. The cupcakes frosted and decorated will last about a day at room temperature before the cake texture will begin to dry out.