Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes!

So, I had promised all my employees (at my outside the house day job) a reward of lunch, snacks, etc of their choice if we exceeded certain company goals on any given week by at least 10%, something which is no small feat. I'm already known for my baking, as I bring in a lot of cookies and muffins when I make them at home anyway, and I told them they could literally choose anything they could think of. Well, last week they did it, and you know what they come up with? Boston Cream cupcakes.

WHO COMES UP WITH THAT????

Thankfully, they are not extremely difficult to make, although time consuming, but they came out so awesome and delicious I figured I'd share them here.

Our fancy pants finished cupcake!

I'm actually going to post the EASY version here. You could easily go full from-scratch, but then I'd be posting multiple recipes, and I'd like it to seem easy enough that you can do it yourself! The most complicated part of this will be timing and temperatures - if you don't prep everything at the right times, these can take way longer to assemble than necessary. You're going to need:

1 box yellow cake mix (NOT a "pudding in the mix" one, it has to be regular) and all the ingredients to prepare the mix. I used Betty Crocker Classic Yellow, which required 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup of water, and 3 eggs.

1 box instant vanilla pudding/pie filling (plus the milk to prepare it) I actually used the Walmart generic one this time, which is quite delicious actually, and requires 2 1/2 cups of milk. 

1 can of Classic Chocolate frosting (I used Betty Crocker again) - NOT the "whipped" kind or it isn't going to finish up right and will taste funny.

You can substitute any of the above with from-scratch yellow cake, vanilla pudding, or a chocolate ganache (all of which I will post the recipes I normally use on another day) and yes, they do taste better but take quite a bit longer and are more ingredient-intensive. You can make these cupcakes for about $6. The from scratch ones will run you more like $18, assuming you won't have ALL the ingredients in your pantry on an average day.

First thing you need to do is make your cupcakes like normal according to the recipe. Be very mindful NOT to overfill the cups (2/3 full is plenty!) because they're going to fluff up quite a bit and you need to leave room for the filling! Using a whisk to mix your cupcake batter will help aerate it and get the nice little nooks and crannies in there that will fill with pudding later on. Also, get your cupcakes OUT of the oven as soon as they are springy to the touch, making sure not to overcook them, or they will be rubbery (or dry) and will not cooperate well when you go to add the filling!

As soon as you get your cupcakes in the oven, prep your vanilla pudding according to the "for pie filling" recipe on the box. I used a family size pudding box and that required 2.5 cups of milk and I had pudding left over. Again, whisk your pudding mix and milk together, preferably in a wide bowl - this will create a shallow layer that will be easier to work with later. Get that in the fridge right away! 

Ok, at this point, you can take a short break. :) Your cupcakes should take 20-28 minutes to bake. As soon as they're done, you need to cool them to room temperature, but don't put them in the fridge - get them out of the pan (to stop the cooking process) and on a plate or cooling rack. It takes about 35 minutes to get them down to room temp this way. Which is perfect because by then...... your pudding will be ready!

So, before you start the end process, you'll need the following:

A cupcake corer - I have this one, which is $3.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond - one of the best Christmas gifts I ever got! Or a paring knife

Your can of frosting, and a small spatula or butter knife

A 1 tsp size measuring spoon

Some space and an empty plate in your refridgerator!

Using your corer, take out the center of your cupcake but DO NOT DISCARD IT! (You can also cut out a cone shape, using a paring knife) Fill up the center of your cupcake with the pudding, using the measuring spoon as a scoop - this will give you just the right amount! Pull off the excess cake from the bottom of your cupcake center that you removed earlier, and use the "top" to cap off the pudding center. Fill ALL of your cupcakes with the pudding before moving on to the next step.

Microwave the chocolate frosting for about 30 seconds on HIGH, then stir it well. It will be thin and liquidy, like chocolate syrup. You need to work quickly here. Scoop up some frosting on your butter knife or spatula, and plop it on the top center of your cupcake. Rotate your wrist in a circle, and the chocolate should spread around the top of the cupcake fairly evenly - it doesn't need to be perfect! As soon as you do that, get it on the cold plate in the fridge - this will allow the frosting to set and will give it that nice glossy shine like a true ganache would have! Repeat with the rest of the cupcakes. You can remove cupcakes from the fridge as they start to set - usually after about 3 minutes you can move them out of the way to make room as you go.

And... you're all set! Your finished cupcakes should look something like this:

Very important! Due to the pudding filling, these cupcakes NEED to be refridgerated if they are not being served immediately, or the pudding will separate and get all sorts of nasty. Be food safe!