National Rocky Road Ice Cream Day | Rocky Road Cupcakes

Sometimes these food holidays make my eyes cross. The hardest part isn’t just keeping up; it’s anticipating what’s to come as well. I’ve missed opportunities for killing two birds with one stone (in the proverbial sense, of course) – when it comes to time, cost, and more.

Sometimes my mom reads through my food holiday list ^[4] and she’ll offer suggestions on what I can make. These Rocky Road cupcakes are a result of that effort. She remembered that Rocky Road was a popular cake made by my aunt’s mother-in-law, the Aunt Sheila of Blueberry Pancakes ^[5] fame.

As I’ve mentioned before, she is a baker and a cook. The vast majority of people are one or the other, but she has both in the bag. Like, way deep in the bag that it has become a part of the bag, if you get my drift. A recipe from Sheila is a recipe to be trusted.

That’s why I knew that the suggestion of making Sheila’s rocky road cake recipe was a good one, and one I had to follow.

Yes, it turned out to be the right move, just like I thought it would be. Mmm-mmm!

Below you’ll find the recipe from Sheila, but for mine, I used chocolate frosting and then just added bits of marshmallow to the top. (Admittedly, I ran out of cocoa and I’m not quick on my feet, heh heh.)

Print Recipe ^[6]

Rocky Road Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Rocky Road Cake

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup cocoa
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk blended with 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Frosting

• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2/3 cup freely snipped or mini marshmallows
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Rocky Road Cake

1. In a small saucepan, bring butter, oil and water to a boil. Remove from heat and cool for at least 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa, pressing out all the lumps. Pour in the butter/oil/water mixture and beat well until smooth. Beat in eggs, then stir in buttermilk starter mixture. Add vanilla extract.
3. Pour batter into a well-greased 13x9 inch pan (alternative: pour batter into 12 large cupcake tins). Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides and a finger pressed in the center leaves an indentation that goes back slowly.
4. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting

1. Heat and stir cocoa, buttermilk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until butter melts and mixture is smooth. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl.
2. Beat in confectioners' sugar until satiny and of a good spreading consistency.
3. Stir in marshmallows, nuts and vanilla.