Growing up on Hostess...

From the early days of my life, I knew I had a pretty intense sweet tooth to deal with.

I am fairly certain that I am addicted to sugar.

BUT, I have made my peace with it. Go ahead and judge me, I do.

It took a long time but I am now very capable of having just a small portion of whatever sugary sweet goodness sits before me. Aferall, my motto is to have a small treat everyday, you never know when a mack truck could take your ass out.

Would you really want the last of your days living by way of starvation and or deprevation?

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that anyone should just sit around stuffing their faces with whatever they want, whenever they want.

But that is the dream....

Growing up my absolute love was all things Hostess. I loved every product they ever made.

The one that is still in my heart however, is the snowball. That pink confection of sugary synthetic goodness, still to this day just hits the spot for me.

Now, out of pure shame of ever being seen buying those things in public, I still need my fix. I am, afterall an admitted sugar addict. What's girl to do?

I went about making these things homemade all with ingredients that I can spell and pronounce.

I wanted all of the textures and flavors that I love in the snowball, but with more of natural flavor profile. Do you see the very natural pink coconut that sits atop of my homemade goodness?

Did you know that the "filling" in those store bought things is supposed to be fresh whipped cream? Uhm... yeah.... so moving on,

I brushed raspberry jam ontop of the cup cake after I filled it with real fresh sweetened whipped cream, cuz I could and it made sense.

The marshmallow topping is kind of perfect. It's chewy and soft with just a hint of stretch like those glorious store bought ones have.

Oh, I also toast the coconut after I dye it pink because me and my good friend Weissy think that the toasted coconut taste way better.

Get to it bitches

For the filling

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tsp powdered sugar

Add the sugar to the cream and beat to stiff peaks

Keep in fridge.

For the cupcakes

line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners, preheat oven to 350

In a double boiler add

8 Tblspoons butter

3 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate

2/3 cup cocoa powder

Let mixture heat so the butter and chocolate melt and whisk till smooth. Set aside.

In a bowl sift together

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

set aside

In another bowl, whisk together

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup creme fraiche

1/2 tsp salt

Add the cooled chocolate mixture to this bowl and then whisk in 1/2 of the dry ingredients, then whisk in the creme fraiche till well combined then whisk in the remaining dry ingredients till its smooth and thick and pretty. That's right, pretty. There is such a thing as pretty batter and this has it people.

Pour into cupcake pans and bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Let cool then put in fridge for about 30 minutes. You don't have to do this step, it just makes the coring of the middle of the cupcakes easier.

Marshmallow topping (take the butter out when you start to make the cupcakes so it gets to room temp by the time you do this)

In a bowl add;

1/2 cup water

2 tsp plain gelatin, let sit for a few minutes. Then put in the microwave for about 30 seconds, to this mixture add;

1 1/4 sticks room temp butter

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups marshmallow creme

It's easiest to start folding it together with a rubber spatula and once it has all come together, use a whisk to make sure there are no clumps. Cover and put into the fridge for at least 1 hour.

For the coconut

Place 1 cup sweetened coconut into a large ziploc bag, sprinkle in 4 - 5 drops of red food coloring and shake it all up and watch the magic of the coconut turn pink.

So very natural and homemade.

Place the natural pink coconut on a tin-foil lined cookie sheet and place in a preheated 350 degree oven and toast the coconut, you'll have to take it out a couple of times and mix the coconut around to make sure it toasts evenly. Let cool.

Using an apple corer, core out just the middle of each cupcake being careful not to core it down to the very bottom of the cupcake.

Fill a piping bag with the whipped cream and fill each cupcake.

Spread a layer of your favorite raspberry jam on top of each cupcake making sure to cover the hole with the whipped cream. I used raspberry jam that I made at home, but feel free to use your favorite store bought variety... peasant.

Fill another pastry bag with the marshmallow mixture and pipe all over the cupcake followed by covering with the coconut.

Now go impress all the bitches at the bakesale with these beauties.

You're welcome.

#hostess #cupcakes #coconut #chocolate #marshmallow