Sweet Staypuft! I Tried That Marshmallow Icing "Hack"

So I needed cupcakes around 11PM the other night, for reasons. (Ask NOT why a woman needeth cupcakes at 11PM. Eth.) And not crappy store-bought cupcakes, either: I wanted ooey-gooey, fresh-from-the-oven ones.

No problem, except I don't like canned icing, and I was too lazy to make any from scratch.

Then I remembered one of those cooking "hacks" on Pinterest, which claims you can stick a marshmallow on your cupcakes for the last few minutes of baking, and BAM. Instant icing.

SOLD.

John was his usual trooper and made a late-night marshmallow run. He brought back the Smores ones, figuring the flattened squares would work better.

 Heeeere we gooooo.... 

I stuck the marshmallows on for the last 4 minutes in the oven.  Here's a blurry shot of them puffing up:

 SO FUN.

I worried they'd drip everywhere, but happily they didn't get much bigger. When the timer dinged, my cupcakes looked like golden-brown dinner rolls:

Unfortunately, everywhere those 'mallows are touching each other OR the pan stuck like stringy super-glue, so they didn't look quite so pretty by the time I got them onto a plate:

Boops.

(Did I just make a cupcake wreck? Yes, yes I did.)

I decided to let the other pan of cupcakes cool down completely before extraction, and that worked MUCH better. The excess topping stuck solidly to the pan, letting the cupcakes come out relatively clean, "icing" intact:

The trick is to get a fork underneath & lift them straight up, so the 'mallow topping doesn't pull to the side.

Now, here's where John proves - once again - that he is a stone-cold genius:

 TOASTED MARSHMALLOW ICING.

Aw yeah - the more burned, the better.

But here's the biggest surprise: the cupcakes were fine that night, but they were phenomenal the next morning. (Yes, I had cupcakes for breakfast. WHAT.) The marshmallow icing just didn't work while the cupcakes were still warm; the taste was underwhelming and the gooeyness was out of control, ending up in a big sticky mess when we tried to eat them.

Once the cake had cooled off, though, the marshmallow taste was stronger, and loads easier to eat. Just torch them right before you commence face-stuffing, so you still get that crispy shell with bubbly liquid marshmallow inside:

OH SWEET HEAVEN.

Initially I was ready to write this off, but now? Yes, please.

So, to sum up: marshmallows for icing is fantastic, IF you're willing to wait for them to cool completely before removing from the pans, and before eating them. Which, believe me, I know is asking a lot. :D

Oh, and lazy baker tip: Any box mix is fine, but for chocolate cupcakes, add half a pack of instant chocolate pudding & a bunch of chocolate chips to it. Super moist chocolatey goodness, guaranteed. (Sometimes I add mint chips, too. Mmmmm.)

Now, who's ready for cupcakes??