The perfect treat to spoil Mums tastebuds with this Mother’s Day, try our latest recipe, a chocoholics dream, Marshmallow Chocolate Orange Cupcakes. Using our Orange Zest Powder and a surprise ingredient of Stout Beer, these chocolate cupcakes have a chocolate-malt taste complimented with a glossy, fluffy sweet marshmallow meringue style icing, topped with a Seed + Stow Dried Orange Half Slice.

For the cake: 

½ cup of stout
125g butter
5 tbsp of cocoa powder
1 cup of caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup of sour cream
¾ cup of plain flour
1 ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp Seed + Stow Orange Zest Powder
1 pinch of salt

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees (fan forced). 
2. Add the stout and butter to a saucepan, over a medium heat and gently stir until the butter has melted, but make sure it doesn’t boil.
3. Add the cocoa powder and caster sugar, whisking until the sugar has completely dissolved. Take off the heat and place to the side.
4. Add the egg, sour cream and vanilla to a large bowl and mix with hand beaters until well combined. 
5. Gradually add the chocolate stout mixture, mixing continuously.
6. Add the flour, bicarb of soda, salt and Seed + Stow Orange Zest Powder to the mixture and beat until it is smooth. 
7. Fill cupcake cases until they are two thirds full (I find it easiest to add the mixture into a jug and pour it, as it is very liquidy compared to regular cup cake batter.)
8. Bake for 25 minutes or until they spring back with gently touched. 
9. Allow the cupcakes to cool before icing.
   
   

For the marshmallow icing:
1 egg white
½ cup caster sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
¼ tsp pf cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
⅓ tsp of vanilla extract
Seed + Stow Dried Orange Slices (Half)

1. Add all ingredients, except for the vanilla extract to a heatproof mixing bowl with 1 tbsp of cold water.
2. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring that the water doesn’t touch the bowl.
3. Beat the mixture with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form and the sugar has dissolved (when you rub some of the mixture between your fingers, you shouldn’t feel any granules). This should take about 5 minutes and the mixture will turn completely white.
4. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the vanilla extract, mixing it in for another minute.
5. Add the icing to a piping bag and pipe onto the cupcakes. I’ve used a French Star Tip, to create swirly dollop shapes across the top of the cupcake, by holding the piping bag vertically, and gently squeezing a dollop out pushing lightly down towards the cake before pulling up to create little peaks. Unlike with regular icing, this mixture is much more springy and fluid, so I try to keep my design as organic as possible, not as perfectly lined up as I usually would. 
6. Garnish with a Seed + Stow Orange Slice (Half).