Instructions

Speculoos Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350F /180C degrees. Line the cupcake tin with liners.
2. In a bowl fitted to a paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream the butter, cookie butter and dark brown sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Add one egg at a time, and beat till incorporated. Mix in the golden syrup.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl in batches, alternating with milk. Whisk thoroughly until completely incorporated.
5. Scoop the batter into cupcake liners, bake for 18-20 minutes. Don’t overfill your cupcake liners – you’ll need room to add the chocolate ganache later!
6. Using a wooden skewer, check to see if completely baked. Once baked, let the cupcakes cool on a cooling rack

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1. In a small pan, heat the cream on low to medium heat. Once the cream heats up, remove from heat.
2. Add the chocolate in a small glass or ceramic bowl, and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let it rest for 5-7 minutes.
3. Mix the ganache mixture using a whisk until completely mixed together and chocolate is melted.

Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

1. Carefully clean the mixer bowl and whisk attachment. Both should be free of any oil or residue from the cupcakes.
2. Add the egg whites, cream of tartar, lemon juice and sugar to a heatproof bowl. The bowl of your stand mixer is ideal, but you can transfer back to the mixer if you need to use a different bowl. Whisk to combine all ingredients
3. Bring a pot of water to a simmer, and place your mixing bowl over the water. A double bolier works well for this but any heatproof bowl will do. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water.
4. Heat the egg white mixture until the sugar is disolved and the mixture reaches 170 F (75 C). Whisk constantly.
5. Remove from heat, and transfer to your stand mixer.  Whisk on medium high to high speed for 5-8 minutes, until stiff peaks are formed.
6. Add vanilla and whisk for another 30 seconds to incorporate.

Assembly

1. Once the cupcakes have cooled, spoon ganache over each cupcake and chill in the refigerator for 5-10 minutes, or until the ganache is set.
2. Pipe the marshmallow frosting onto the cupcakes.
3. Brown your marshmallow meringues with a kitchen torch, or using the broil feature of your oven for just 5-10 seconds. If using the oven make sure it’s pre-heated, and that your meringue tops are close to the heating element, but not touching. Watch them VERY closely – they’ll brown very quickly!
4. Enjoy!