Cocoa Cobweb Cupcakes Recipes

COBWEB HOT COCOA

Steps:

• Heat the milk, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth and steaming with tiny bubbles around the edge of the pan, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the chocolate to the pan; whisk until fully dissolved and smooth. Keep warm.
• Put the mini marshmallows in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until puffy, 10 to 20 seconds. Stir with a fork until smooth, then let cool slightly.
• Pour the hot cocoa into mugs. Using the fork, lift up some of the melted marshmallow and drape it over each mug, zigzagging strands of marshmallow across the top.

TULIP CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Melt the white and pink candy melts separately. Arrange 12 plastic spoons facedown on a cutting board. Put the white candy melts in a resealable plastic bag, snip a corner and pipe short lines on the tip of each spoon.
• Dip the back of the spoons in the pink candy melts to cover; freeze until set, 5 minutes. Carefully pop off the petals and use the spoons to make more. (You'll need 6 to 8 petals per cupcake.)
• Tint the 1/2 cup vanilla frosting yellow with food coloring. Pipe a small amount on each cupcake in the center, then insert the licorice sticks. Arrange the candy petals around the yellow frosting.

HOT COCOA "CUPCAKES"

Steps:

• Make the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Transfer to a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer) and blend briefly.
• Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for 5 minutes. Gradually add the hot water, mixing at low speed until just combined. The batter will be quite thin.
• Pour the batter into coffee cups and arrange them 1-inch apart on a sheet pan or a rectangular cake pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are okay), and the center feels firm to the touch, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let the cakes cool on the pan. (Don't remove the cakes from the cups!)
• Meanwhile, make the Topping: In a chilled bowl, combine the cream and sugar and whip, using a hand-mixer, until soft peaks form.
• When ready to serve, spoon the topping over the cakes to cover, so they look like a cups of cocoa topped with whipped cream. Serve with a spoon.

CORN-ON-THE-COB CUPCAKE

Steps:

• Color the frosting pale yellow with food coloring.
• Working with 3 cupcakes at a time, frost cupcakes with yellow frosting. Arrange 5 rows of jelly beans, close together, on each cupcake. Place the 3 cupcakes side by side on a corn dish or serving platter to resemble an ear of corn. Repeat process with remaining cupcakes, frosting, and jelly beans.
• Cut the fruit chews into eight 1-inch squares. Soften the edges slightly by hand so that they look like melted butter. Place 1 square on top of each ear of corn. Sprinkle with sugars. Insert a corn holder in the end of each ear of corn, if using. Serve.