Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Sandra Lee

These cupcakes were born out of a request from a member of Derek’s kickball team. I found a recipe from Sandra Lee of the Food Network that looked delicious and seemed easy enough…

The initial batch was thrown out.

The original filling was a basic instant vanilla pudding mix which was ok, but nothing spectacular. I knew it could be better.

This was my first time making chocolate ganache…chocolate and cream…easy right? Either Sandra needed to be a bit more specific, or I needed to do more research before making the cupcakes. The initial mixture was very thin and impossible to decorate a cupcake with. I now know that you can thicken the ganache by either adding more chocolate or cooling in the refrigerator (or both like I did).

*Let this be proof that I am not a perfect baker*

For the second batch I added cool whip to the pudding and the taste is so much creamier! The ganache thickened and frosted very well (and tastes uber chocolatey). I used a long thin Bismarck tip for the filling. The trick is finding the balance between too much and too little filling (which I still need to practice). The first few I filled too full (it’s a good thing I sample before finishing the whole batch ) and they were falling apart and extra messy. Too little filling won’t give you the full effect.

Either way they were a big hit with the kickballers. Enjoy!

Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes

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Cupcakes:

1 Box yellow cake mix (I use Duncan Hines)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/3 cups water

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Filling:
I box (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1 1/4 cups milk
Approx 4 oz cool whip

Whisk together box of pudding and milk until thickened and smooth. Add in cool whip until well combined.

Chocolate Ganache:
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 bags (16 oz total) of milk chocolate chips

Heat cream in small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles start to appear around the edges. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Place ganache in refrigerator until thick enough to frost cupcakes.

Once cupcakes are fully cooled place the filling mixture into a pastry bag with a Bismarck (or any long, thin tip). Insert tip into middle of cupcake and squeeze out filling, backing out tip as you go. Once cupcakes are filled, use a spoon or knife to frost with the ganache.