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!

Fun Traditions

My friends and I like to get together during the week (especially Mondays) to watch some of our favorite shows, drink wine, and consume large quantities of food. This has become somewhat of a tradition.  Who says you can only have fun on the weekends?  It’s a great way to relax, re-charge, and break up the monotony of the week.  We all take turns hosting, and everyone brings something, so it’s not too overwhelming for the person having everyone over.  Last night, it was my turn.  Natalie, Kate, and Ashley came over to watch the Bachelor.  Although I'm not too into this season, its a lot of fun to watch and make fun of the stupid things they all say and do.

Winston waiting for the girls to arrive

The girls brought over wine, champagne, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, and cheese and crackers.  For the main course I made homemade pizza, using the same pizza dough recipe as I used last week since it was such a success.  It was also something easy to make ahead of time and a cheap way to feed everyone.  

I made a Hawaiian pizza and a pepperoni pizza.  I added Italian seasoning and garlic powder to the pepperoni pizza dough.

Ready to bake!

Having two pizzas in the oven took about 20 minutes

Finished Hawaiian Pizza

Finished Pepperoni Pizza

How cute are these?

 

For desert, we had mini cupcakes that my dad brought from NYC.  They are called “Baked by Melissa” and they are SO GOOD!  My favorite was the Boston cream pie cupcake (the one in the middle).  But there are lots of different flavors like chocolate chip pancake, smores, cookies and cream, PB&J, cookie dough, mint chocolate chip and more!

After drinking all the wine, we popped some champagne.  Although we weren't celebrating anything in particular, it was so much fun.  It was the perfect way to spend a Monday!