Today’s Mason Jar Toasted Marshmallow Hot Cocoa Cakes has been brought to you by Kraft Baking Products on behalf of Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SweetenTheSeason #CollectiveBias
Tis’ the season to bake your booty off! I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of to-do’s and can’t quite seem to catch up. It also doesn’t help that it’s 80 degrees again here. While we’ve had a couple of days when the temperature dipped and it started to feel like the holidays, there’s nothing worse than trying to feel festive, baking in your Christmas sweater…..and sweating.
Last week we hosted Brian’s office party at our home (can you believe I didn’t take any photos?! Makes me want to cry) and while the house certainly looks like Santa will be coming soon, we had people in shorts and I was worried my dogs were going to overheat in their holiday sweaters. Gotta love the Louisiana seasons, or lack thereof. Despite the fact that the temperatures refuse to drop and stay cold, I still crave my hot chocolate when looking at Christmas lights.
I’ve talked about it in the past, but Brian and I both enjoy driving around town scoping out the area’s own Clark Griswold’s. While I personally don’t ever aspire to decorate my house with a million blinking lights and more yard ornaments than fingers and toes, I will admit to having to be pried away from the homes set to music. Just last night, we stumbled upon a house that we circled 3 times because merely camping out in front of it, song after song, seemed creepy.
This weekend we will be heading to Nottoway Plantation for the annual lighting of the bonfires on the levee, and while I’ll probably still have my hot chocolate in hand, I was trying to come up with something easily portable to share with friends. These Mason Jar Toasted Marshmallow Hot Cocoa Cakes are easy to whip together, travel well, and provide the same taste as hot chocolate without the worry of spilling liquid on yourself. I’ve stenciled utensils for the new cookbook a couple of times, and thought the “Stay Toasty” forks added a fun touch to my cakes, since they’re toasted marshmallows after all.
Let’s talk about the cakes and make some “Stay Toasty” forks, shall we?!
To make the cakes, you’ll need to do one of two things. Either purchase a store bought chocolate cake mix (no judgements here) or use this recipe for making it from scratch. While I’m no cake mix snob, I prefer it homemade here simply because we’re trying to get the rich taste of hot chocolate. And if you’ve never made a chocolate cake with a bit of chocolate Jell-O instant pudding, then you’re in for a treat. The addition of pudding keeps the cake really light and moist and provides a bit more chocolate oomph. You’re going to also need lots and lots of marshmallows, because, hello, what’s hot cocoa without marshmallows? I’ve toasted the Kraft Jet-Puffed mini marshmallows and used the Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme in the buttercream. Oh my word.
To make the cakes from scratch you need:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1½ cups cake flour
- 1 cup baking cocoa, sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup instant chocolate pudding
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Marshmallow Frosting:
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 3-4 cups confectioners sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 container (7 ounces) marshmallow creme, you'll use about 1½ cups
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffins tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl beat together the sugar, butter and vanilla. Add in eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl combine the cocoa, cake flour, baking soda, salt and pudding, Slowly add into the butter mixture. Add in the milk. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Fill each cupcake liner about ⅔ full and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting by beating together the butter and confectioners sugar, adding in the milk and vanilla followed by the marshmallow cream with a hand mixer (or the bowl of a stand mixer) until light and fluffy.
- Put the frosting in a pastry bag and into the refrigerator until you're ready to assemble the mason jars.
Then you’ll need to make the Toasted Marshmallow frosting. Unlike the cake mix, there is where there’s no room for cheating! Once you’ve had this Toasted Marshmallow buttercream made with the Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme, I promise you’ll crave it time and time again. It’s basically the marriage of buttercream and marshmallows and likely the most delicious thing on the planet.
I purchased a fancy blow torch to toast my frosting, but couldn’t get the darn thing to work. Lucky for you, I tested out the broil method and you can easily pop them into the oven a few seconds and get similar results. Just watch them CLOSELY. Only takes a moment.
To layer the cakes, you’ll need 4 6ounce mason jars. You’ll use 3 cupcakes for each mason jar. Begin by removing the cupcake liners and cut off the domed part of each cupcake- this will help layer your cakes neatly.
Place one cupcake bottom into the mason jar, layer with the marshmallow frosting, then place another cupcake bottom on top, repeat with the frosting.
Add some marshmallows and toast the topping.
To create the stenciled forks, you’ll simply need to purchase the wooden forks from your craft store and the mini stamping sets. Or, if you have pretty handwriting, just write on the forks with a paint pen.
Word of caution: if you use a sharpie, it will bleed into the grain of the wood. Just a heads up.
Attach the custom forks with a bit of bakers twine or ribbon to your Mason Jar Toasted Marshmallow Hot Cocoa Cakes and enjoy!
If you’re transporting them, just pipe a smaller swirl of frosting and top your jar with a festive fabric topper.
Who wouldn’t enjoy snacking on some hot cocoa cake while watching the Christmas lights?
Convenient and budget friendly, you can find everything you need to bake up some Hot Cocoa Cakes of your own at your local Walmart Bake Center. You can find your mason jars and fabric there, too!
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