Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved those Boston cream doughnuts from Dunkin Doughnuts.  They are my absolute favorite.  I've never tried to make Boston cream pie cupcakes before, but they have the same components that I love about Boston Cream doughnuts: the pudding-like filling inside and the chocolate glaze on top.  So I figured I couldn't go wrong with this recipe.

Gather the following ingredients:

Cupcakes:

•  1 box of yellow cake mix
•  3 eggs
•  1/3 cup vegetable oil
•  1 cup water

Filling:

•  1 3oz box of french vanilla Jello instant pudding
•  1 cup half-and-half
•  1 cup heavy whipping cream
•  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Ganache:

•  1 cup heavy cream
•  1/4 cup light corn syrup
•  8 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare the cupcakes using the directions on the cake mix box.  You can make a lower fat version by substituting the vegetable oil with apple sauce (I may try that next time).

While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the filling. Combine the pudding mix and 1 cup of half-and-half, put to the side (another low fat option would be to use the Jello sugar free vanilla instant pudding mix - they usually taste just as good as regular). Then, in a bowl of an electric mixer with the whip attachment, combine 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.  Whip until soft peaks form.  Fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream goodness.  Place the pudding/whipped cream mix into a piping bag with a star tip.

Fill the cupcakes with the whipped cream/pudding mixture by inserting the star tip into the middle of the cupcake and giving the piping bag a squeeze.  Its kind of hard to tell how much gets into the actual cupcake, but just squeeze until the stuff starts spilling out of the top.  Like this:

I wiped down the excess filling off the top so I could glaze them without making a mess.

Prepare the chocolate ganache by combining 1/4 cup light corn syrup with 1 cup heavy cream and 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat.  The corn syrup gives the ganache a nice, pretty shine.  When the corn syrup and cream starts to simmer, remove the heat and add 8oz of semisweet chocolate.  Cover and wait 8 minutes for the chocolate to melt. Mix it all together and let it cool a bit (about 15 - 20 minutes).  Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the chocolate ganache and place on a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet (just in case any of the chocolate drips).

How pretty are these?!

Last step - dig in!