Recipes Hot Cocoa Cupcakes with Meringue Frosting 4.0 (1,101) 2 Reviews A mother of two and former bakery owner Silvano Nardone loves nostalgic desserts, like these rich chocolate cupcakes mounted with a fluffy marshmallow-esque meringue frosting. The recipe calls for a homemade gluten-free flour, but you can use store-bought if you need to. By Silvana Nardone Silvana Nardone F&W Digital Food Awards Winner Website Silvana's Kitchen Profile Silvana Nardone is one of America's great bakers. The fact that everything she makes is gluten-free is astonishing. The former Brooklyn bakery owner and editor-in-chief of Every Day with Rachael Ray learned that her son Isaiah was gluten- and dairy-intolerant in 2007. She cleared out her pantry and made it her mission to create new versions of his favorite foods, like corn bread and brownies—recipes she shares on her blog and in her book Cooking for Isaiah. She recently cracked the code on sandwich bread: "Normally, my son would come home from school, lift the loaf that was cooling and say, 'Heavy again.' Then, one day, I added every ingredient I'd ever tried. He lifted the loaf and said, 'Hey! It's light!'" Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 8, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Sarah Bolla Active Time: 30 mins Total Time: 50 mins Yield: 12 to 12 cupcakes cupcakes Ingredients Silvana's Kitchen Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour 6 cups white rice flour 3 cups tapioca flour, preferably Shiloh Farms 1 1/2 cups potato starch 2 tablespoons xanthan gum 1 tablespoon salt Cupcakes 1 1/2 cups Silvana's Kitchen Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder (not Dutch process) 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips 3/4 cup boiling water 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature 1/2 cup canola oil 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract Marshmallow Frosting 4 large egg whites, at room temperature 1 cup sugar Pinch of cream of tartar 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional) Directions Make the Gluten-Free Flour In a large bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients. Set aside 1 1/2 cups and store the rest in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 year. Make the cupcakes Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate, larger bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and chocolate chips with the boiling water until smooth. Add the sugar, sour cream, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla; whisk until no streaks remain. Whisk in the dry ingredients until incorporated. Fill the prepared muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a rack and let cool completely. Make the Frosting In a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl shouldn't touch the water), whisk the egg whites with the sugar and cream of tartar until the sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat the whites at high speed until stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Beat in the vanilla if using. Transfer the meringue frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large round pastry tip and frost the cupcakes. Make Ahead The cupcakes can be kept at room temperature for up to 1 day. Rate it Print