Celebrating Friday with some Cupcakes!

 It's Friday.  Let's all just stop right here and take a deep breath.  Real deep.  We made it to Friday.  Now, pat yourself on the back.  The weekend is here!  Okay, do the happy dance.  No one's watching.  Weekend, here we come!

I am so ready for this weekend to be here.  In fact, I am dreaming of sleeping in as I type.  I won't lie.  I miss vacation sleeping in.  I am love all that I am accomplishing while the kids are at school (I do kind of miss them), but oh, man the things I have accomplished this week!  I haven't even come close to getting it all done (my list of daily goals is always way more than I can fit in a day and it grows as the day goes on, so it's hopeless to think I can do it all).  But, my house is looking less like a tornado of post Christmas past and more like a quiet place to breathe.  And that, my dear reader friends, is cause to celebrate! 

Because we have all survived the week, we need to celebrate with cupcakes and chocolate.  And perhaps some marshmallow filling.  It's just the right thing to do.  And, if you are in a super celebratory mood you could even involve the kiddos (or not, if you just want to save your sanity).  These cupcakes are kind of a mash-up of a few past recipes on the blog and the end result is completely dreamy!  The cupcake is gluten-free so if that was your New Year's Resolution this cupcake will make you feel oh, so good! If you aren't into the gluten-free everything, I will link you to the full of gluten version of the cupcake.  It's all good.  The marshmallow cream filling and chocolate ganache frosting is basically a better than a ho-ho cupcake  Mmmm.  I am getting so hungry just thinking of these. 

Drooling yet? 

I promise they are so worth it.  I mean REALLY, REALLY worth it.  Especially, if it was the first week back to reality after 3 full, glorious weeks of sleeping in (totally ignoring the fact that my house caught nasty colds and was miserable for part of that).  Anyways, I don't want to take up too much of your time with my ramblings because it's the WEEKEND and in between rocking out in your car celebrating that fact you need to remember to hit the store on the way home and make sure you have important things like whipping cream, marshmallow cream, and cocoa powder. 

So,  have a fabulous and restful weekend and enjoy some chocolate cupcakes that you will dream of until you make them (maybe not, but maybe so). 

 Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Cream Filling and Whipped Ganache Frosting {Gluten Free}

Ingredients: 
1 3/4 cup gluten free 1-for 1 flour*
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk **
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp espresso powder
3 eggs

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 325.  Carefully measure out your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Add all the wet ingredients and beat at medium speed for about a minute, until nice and smooth.  Make sure you scrap the sides of the bowl about half way through so that you don't have chunks at the bottom.  Add your eggs and continue beating.  Batter will be thin and that's a good thing. 

Line muffins with your favorite liners and fill with cupcake batter halfway up.  Bake for about 12 minutes.  Use a tester to check to see if done.  If it isn't done, just stick back in oven and cook for 1-2 mintues more and check again. 

This recipe yeilded me about 30 cupcakes. 

* I don't usually stock my fridge with buttermilk, especially once I figured out this hack.  Measure out your milk and add a splash of buttermilk.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes and it will become slightly chunky and sour. . . ta-da! Buttermilk!

** I use Bob's Red Mill 1-for-1 gluten free baking flour.  It has always yielded beautiful results. 

Marshmallow Cream Filling

Ingredients:

 1 container of marshmallow cream (I used Kraft)
1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp water
dash of salt

Directions:
Beat these ingredients together until nice and fluffy.  Stick in a cake decorating bag with a tip and stab it into the top center of the cupcakes and inject it inside.  No need to scoop some out, it will poof a bit on the top, but your frosting will cover it.

Whipped Ganache Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 (12 oz) bag of Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Heat cream up and pour chocolate chips into warm cream.  Let sit for about 30 seconds and stir well.  If it isnt melting enough, feel free to zap it at 20 second intervals. Let it come to room temperature.  Beat until fluffy.  Pipe or spread over your cupcake.

It will appear super soft, but if you place the frosted cupcakes in the fridge, they will get harder and more stable. 

The original gluten-filled chocolate cupcake recipe was posted here.

The inspiration came from this VERY old post here.

Happy Baking!