Light and fluffy marshmallow frosting. Delicious to eat and easy to make!
Growing up, my mother used to wax poetic about the amazing marshmallow frosting she liked to make as a girl. And now ages and ages later, I’m finally giving it a try.
Okay, this isn’t my mom’s recipe–part of the mystique of her frosting is that the recipe was lost to time–but according to her, this one turned out very similar, so win!
This frosting is so much fun. Watching egg whites and sugar go from clear, eggy liquid to light and billowy clouds of marshmallow deliciousness is like watching a magic trick.
I’ll be using this frosting next in a recipe next week and since cooked frosting always intimidated me when I first started baking, I thought I’d give this one its own post before then and walk through it step-by-step.
You will Need:
Heat-proof glass bowl* or stand mixer bowl
Stand mixer* or handheld electric mixer*
Whisk
Medium to large saucepan for boiling water
First, you’re going to whisk eggs, sugar, cream of tarter, and salt in a large heat-proof bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Heat an inch of water (fill the pot up to your first knuckle) in a large pot until simmering and place bowl of egg whites over the water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the boiling water.
Stir eggs over simmering water until they reach 120°F. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes. If you don’t have an instant-read thermometer, one, you should get one*, it will change your life. Two, at 120°F, your mixture will feel hot to the touch, just past the point of comfortable.
Remove bowl from heat and use your stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer to beat the egg whites on high for another 3 to 6 minutes. They should become bright white and fluffy. They won’t be able to form stiff peaks because they are so sticky, but when you lift the beaters out of the mixture, the peaks should stand pretty tall before flopping over.
Transfer to a piping bag or use a large plastic bag with the tip cut off to pipe onto some delicious cupcakes, like maybe my Gooey Chocolate S’mores Cupcakes…
Then very carefully brown under your broiler for a couple of minutes or toast with a kitchen torch. And done!
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Easy Marshmallow Frosting
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Instructions
- Fill a medium to large pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer.
- In a large heat-proof bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), whisk together egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt.
- Place bowl over the simmering water on the stove, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Heat, whisking constantly until eggs reach 120°F.
- Remove bowl from heat and use your hand mixer or electric mixer to beat the egg whites on high for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy with peaks that mostly hold their shape.
- If desired, add vanilla extract and beat for another 30 seconds until well-mixed.
- Transfer immediately to a piping bag or use a large plastic bag with the tip cut off to pipe onto cupcakes.
- Very carefully brown under your broiler or toast with a kitchen torch. This step is optional, but the frosting is quite sticky until toasted.
Recipe Notes
This makes about 5 cups of frosting, enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes.
Nutritional Information
Adapted From ChowHound
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using one of them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you and it helps keep the lights on around here/pay my student loans. 😉
YUM YUM YUM, Tracy! Great recipe so totally pinning, of course! Your piping work? Spot on, girl! My piping is a tad sad, but I would definitely work on to try to make my frosting as pretty as yours 😉 ! Can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Ha, thanks, Dawn!! Unfortunately, I’m afraid this frosting is so easy to pipe, it makes anyone look good–my piping skills need all the help they can get. 😉
freeze it for a little bit
Hi have you tried doubling or even tripling this recipe?
Hi Anita, doubling will work just fine, but tripling would most likely be too much for a stand mixer to process all at once.
Thanks! Going to make it this weekend with your S’mores Cupcakes.
Fantastic. I hope you enjoy them!
Hi Tracy,
I was wondering if I have to use the cream of tarter and if I do, do you know any alternatives
Hi Jana. The cream of tartar helps stabilize the egg whites. Generally, you can substitute the same amount of lemon juice or white vinegar for cream of tartar, but I’ve never tried the substitution with this recipe. If you do try it, please let me know how it works out!
I used this tonight to top some chocolate cupcakes for my dairy free daughter. I didn’t have cream of tartar so I sprinkled in just a tiny amount of plain, powdered gelatin. It set up beautifuly and has a nice glossy shine to boot.
Awesome! I’m so glad the frosting worked out for you!
How long will this keep its shape once toasted?
Hi Jenn, It should be fine in the refrigerator for a couple of days. I made a batch on a Friday afternoon and they still looked (and tasted) good, with no weeping or deflating when we finished them off on Sunday night.
How did you store them in your refrigerator? In a cupcake Tupperware? Do they need to be sealed in a Tupperware to stay good or will that cause the frosting to melt?
I store the cupcakes in the fridge in tupperware. This frosting is pretty stable, especially once toasted, so I’ve never had problems with it weeping, but I’m in dry Southern California. I haven’t ever tested it overnight in a more humid environment.
Hi Tracy, must I toast the frosting?
Hi Criske, you definitely don’t have to, but it’s pretty sticky until it is toasted, so just something to be aware of. Hope that helps!
Hi i really like this rwcipe but my frosting is nos coming fluffy wha t can i do to make it fluffy? Help!
Hi Sofia, make sure you are beating it until peaks form, so when you lift your beaters out, the frosting stands before flopping over. It can take as long as 6 minutes using a handheld electric mixer. Hope this helps!!
Would this recipe work on a pie or would that be thick and melt?
Hi Gale, this should work just fine on pie since it’s basically meringue topping.
How long will this frosting hold its shape without melting at room temp?
Hi Mandy, this frosting won’t melt at all at room temperature.
Looking forward to trying your recipes
Thanks, Katie! I hope you enjoy them!
This frosting and the s’mores cupcakes look great! Just one quick question.. by heating the egg white mixture to 120F, are the egg whites “cooked”? (Asking as I am an expecting mama). TIA 🙂
Hi, Christine. Thanks, and congrats on the little one! 🙂 Unfortunately, no. But, if you still want to make these, you could always try something like a marshmallow fluff buttercream. http://www.thekitchn.com/marshmallow-fluff-makes-the-easiest-buttercream-frosting-238182 You wouldn’t be able to toast it, but it doesn’t have any eggs and is super simple. I would just not do big swirls of frosting since the milk chocolate center in these cupcakes is already quite sweet, so a little marshmallow fluff frosting would go a long way. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the tip, I will try it out!
Hi, Tracy! This recipe looks amazing, and I’ll definitely try it!
Will this fluff be able to stay properly in some s’mores macarons, do you think? Or do you think they will deflate and ooze out of the sides?
Thanks again! 🙂
Hi Nina. Thanks! This is pretty stable on cupcakes, but I don’t think it would hold up well in macarons. You could try straight marshmallow fluff like these here: http://livforcake.com/2015/02/smores-macarons.html Or if you wanted something completely homemade, you could do a Swiss meringue buttercream like: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/12/swiss-buttercream-meringue-frosting-recipe.html which is basically this recipe + butter so you get added stability and richness. Hope that helps! I’ve been meaning to try making s’mores macarons for ages. They sound soooo good!
This frosting was DELICIOUS and it looked so cool. Unfortunately, I must have done something wrong because when I opened the fridge this morning (frosted them last night), the frosting was all runny. Looks like a marshmallow completely melted and oozed all over. Now I need to figure out how to fix this. I’m supposed to take them to a party today. I need to somehow scrape all the sticky frosting off the tops and sides and go buy some to replace it. ☹️
Oh no! I’m so sorry hear that! My guess is that the eggs and sugar weren’t heated quite high enough. If you want to make it again, I would make sure that the egg mixture hits at least 120°F. If it goes a bit hotter than that, it’s not a problem. If don’t want to make it again and still want a marshmallowy flavor, you could always try this Marshmallow Fluff Frosting: http://www.thekitchn.com/marshmallow-fluff-makes-the-easiest-buttercream-frosting-238182. You can’t toast it, but it’s super simple and might be what you’re looking for right now.
I hope you are able to find a solution. Good luck!
Can you store the frosted cupcakes with this frosting at room temp after they’ve been toasted?
Hi Lindsey, room temp is fine for a little while, but definitely refrigerate overnight.
Can i add color to this????
I haven’t done it before, but I did a little research and it looks like you should be able to. Add a couple drops of coloring when the frosting is at its soft peak stage (peaks are just standing and flopping over at the tip) and keep beating until you get to stiff peaks. I don’t think you will be able to get a very dark color though, as too much coloring might keep the frosting from whipping up. If you try it, please report back and let us know how it works out!
Can you use it to frost a cake? Will it stay on the sides of the cake?
Hi, Tina. I’ve never done it, so I can’t say how easy it is to use as cake frosting, but I’ve had people tell me they’ve frosted cakes with it, and their cakes have looked great.
Will it completely ruin it if a tiny bit of egg yolks fell in the whites? Please say no, I only have one egg left!
Hi, Stacie. Egg yolk in with the whites can cause them not to whip up, but otherwise shouldn’t ruin the recipe. I would try to spoon out that bit if you can, give the rest of the recipe a try, and if they whip up into stiff peaks, you’re golden. Good luck!!
I am going to use this to make marshmallow pops with the extra frosting and I used food coloring and it looked great the red looked amazing
So happy to hear, Hayden!
Hi Tracey, I want to make a s’mores cake, I want to make a chocolate cake, what would you recommend to use for the middle of the cake( I am using your marshmallow frosting to frost the outside) I was thinking maybe a little fluff on the edge, and then like a chocolate pudding mixture on the inner ring( the fluff should hold the pudding in) graham cracker crumbs on top with a chocolate drip
Hi, Sheila, that sounds amazing! And I love the idea of doing a pudding center.
Thanks for the marshmallow frosting recipe. Wondering if it freezes well after it’s been piped onto cupcakes and toasted?
Hi, I don’t recommend freezing this frosting. It will weep as it defrosts and the texture suffers.
I made this frosting. It tastes great but only a few piped out good. Like it got soft. I beat 6 minutes and was still not as stiff as I thought it should be. I live in Ohio so it’s hot and humid. Could this affect it?
Hi, Amanda, glad the frosting tasted good, but sorry it was being difficult! Unfortunately really humid days can make it hard to get a stiff frosting. If you wanted to give it another go, I’d wait for a less humid day. One other thought, if it was only the first few cupcakes that piped out well, the heat of your hands might might also be affecting the frosting. You can try piping it in smaller batches and just refilling your piping bag after every few cupcakes, the way you would work with buttercream on a hot day. Hope that helps!