The One Showstopping Dessert You Need On Your Holiday Table

Our homemade, hot-pink take on the Sno Ball—a Hostess convenience-store staple, which dates back to the late 40s—is the most delightfully OTT dessert. They're guaranteed to bring nostalgia—and sticky fingers—to any holiday table. Iced (and filled!) with decadent marshmallow frosting, these chocolatey coconut snowballs (click here for the recipe)—rolled in pink coconut flakes—are a fresh holiday showstopper few will be able to resist, no matter how many holiday cookies they’ve already eaten.

Below, a step-by-step guide to help you create them perfectly at home.

1. Gather your ingredients and tools

Some pre-assembly required: The cupcakes take about 25-to-30 minutes to make, and must cool completely before decorating can begin. You'll also need marshmallow frosting* and pink shredded coconut*.

(*Go through the steps below for instructions on how to colour the coconut, prepare the frosting, and assemble these tasty mini-cakes.)

2. Colour your coconut

Place shredded coconut and pink food colouring into a resealable bag. Seal, then shake until the coconut is evenly coloured. Tip: We use gel food colouring — it's more concentrated, and the best way to colour the coconut effectively. All you need is a few drops to get the bright pink shade shown here.

3. Beat the frosting...

Combine frosting ingredients into a large metal bowl over a large pot filled with 1-in of simmering water. Beat with an electric mixer until sugar dissolves.

4. ...until stiff meringue forms

Ten minutes with the beaters (on medium high heat) should result in a glossy, smooth meringue, perfect for frosting.

5. Fill piping bag

Fill a piping bag (fitted with a small plain tip) with half of the frosting.

6. Fill cupcakes with frosting

Insert the piping bag tip into the bottom of a cooled cupcake, piping about 1 tbsp of frosting into the centre.

7. Frost cupcake

Pipe frosting evenly over base of cupcake.

8. Spread frosting

Tip: We like to use a small, offset spatula for this step.

9. Roll through coconut

This is the fun part! Place the cupcake icing side down on a tray filled with the shredded pink coconut. Using remaining frosting, ice the rest of the cupcake, then roll it around until the snowball is fully coated.

10. Plate

Move snowballs to a serving platter immediately. (Tip: As they're very delicate, snowballs are best stored on platter you intend to serve them on.)

Originally published November 2017; Updated December 2019.

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