Marble Cupcakes are some of my very favorites. I hope you try these and they because one of yours as well!

Marble Cupcakes with Marbled Swiss Meringue

I made these marble cupcakes last weekend for our weekly family get-together we have.

I am a sucker for a good swiss meringue. It takes more time than your typical butter/powdered sugar frosting, but the end results are so worth it in my opinion!

This is one I wouldn’t really attempt without a stand mixer though. It is possible, but it’s a LOT more labor intensive if you have to physically stand there holding the mixer while you do this.

Let’s start with the cake. I got the base recipe from the fabulous Sally’s Baking Addiction. I made a few changes, but it’s essentially the same.

Start by mixing together the flour, baking powder, & baking soda in a bowl, and then set it aside.

Melt 1 stick of salted butter, and pour it into your mixer with one cup of sugar. Mix 1 minute, until they are combined.

Next add in the egg, and egg yolks. Mix for 1-2 minutes. Now add your sour cream, and vanilla. Mix on low for 1 minute. Next, starting and ending with the flour mixture, alternate adding the flour and the half and half.

So add 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the half and half, then another 1/3 of the flour, then the remaining 1/2 of the half and half, the the last 1/3 of the flour. Clear as mud? Mix for 30 seconds between each addition. Now remove one cup of the batter to a separate bowl.

Mix in the cocoa powder and milk. Stir until combined and free of lumps.

Fill the prepared cupcake tins with approximately 1/4 cup of white batter. I got about 16 cupcakes out of the deal. Spoon the chocolate batter into the tins on top of the white until it is evenly distributed between all cupcakes.

Using a butter knife, swirl the chocolate into the white batter a few times. Bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes. Start checking at 18 minutes, and you may have to go as long as 25 minutes depending on your oven. If a tester comes out with moist crumbs, you are done! Let cool for 10 minutes in the pans, and then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

While the cupcakes are cooling, start your frosting. Using a double boiler (or a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, which is what I do!), combine your egg whites and sugar. Whisk constantly, until the sugar is fully dissolved. Test this by rubbing some of the mixture between your fingers. If you can feel ANY grain, it isn’t ready yet.

When the sugar has fully dissolved, pour the sugar/egg whites into your completely clean mixer, and whip on medium speed until stiff peaks form and the meringue is completely cooled.

*Note – Your mixer bowl must be COMPLETELY free of all fat residue or the whites will not whip up to stiff peaks. One trick for ensuring this is to rub the cut half of a lemon over your bowl.

The amount of time this will take will vary. Mine took about 10 minutes of constant beating. Mine also didn’t get quite all the way to stiff peaks. I was actually a little worried this wouldn’t come together at all, but it did! Yay!

So now that you have (hopefully) stiff peaked meringue, you can start gradually adding your butter one tablespoon at a time. Make sure it is FULLY beaten in before adding more. Once it is all mixed in, keep on mixing until the buttercream is thick and fluffy. Here’s some great tips from Jason and Shawnda if you run into trouble. Now add the vanilla and mix until combined.

Now, remove half of the buttercream from the mixing bowl, and set aside. Melt ~ 4 oz of chocolate chips according to package directions, and drizzle it into the remaining buttercream, while mixing on low speed.

Placing one half vanilla, and one half chocolate into a piping bag, pipe onto your cupcakes using your favorite tip. My new favorite, and the one I used for this recipe, is the Wilton 1M. It makes this beautiful soft-serve icing pattern, and also those adorable icing roses you see everywhere.

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Need some more awesome cupcake ideas? I’ve got lots!

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes
Strawberry Stuffed Cupcakes
Fresh Cherry Cupcakes
Scratch Hostess Cupcakes

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