Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes Recipe 445

OUTRAGEOUS BOSTON CREAM PIE CUPCAKES!

Steps:

• Prepare yellow cupcakes as directed on box.
• In the meantime, prepare the vanilla custard filling by combining the instant pudding mix the half and half in a medium bowl. In a stand mixer using the whip attachment, combine cream, vanilla and powdered sugar and whip at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold in the pudding mixture to the whipped cream until it is fully incorporated and smooth. Place filling into a pastry bag fitted with a #21 (or standard star) tip.
• When the cupcakes have cooled, place the tip of the pastry bag inside each cupcake and pipe in filling, being careful not to overfill.
• When all the cupcakes have been filled, prepare your ganache.
• Combine the heavy cream and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate; cover and let stand for 8 minutes. (If the chocolate has not completely melted, return the saucepan to low heat and stir constantly until melted.) Stir in the vanilla extract very gently until smooth. Cool the glaze until tepid so that a spoonful drizzled back into the pan mounds slightly. (You can refrigerate the glaze to speed up this process, stirring every few minutes to ensure even cooling.).
• Dip the tops of the cupcakes in the ganache. Place glazed cupcakes on a cooling rack to dry. Be sure to place wax paper or cookie sheet under rack as the ganache will drip.

BOSTON CREAM PIE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar.
• Add vanilla and beat again.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
• Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to the creamed mixture in 3 batches, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat after each addition, just until combined.
• Line a lightly greased muffin pan with cupcake liners and fill each liner 3/4 of the way full.
• Bake in a 350°F oven for 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely
• In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks well.
• Gradually stir in milk until well blended.
• In a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, mix together sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
• Gradually add in milk mixture, stirring well to prevent lumps.
• Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until mixture reaches a low boil (about 20 minutes). Mixture should be thickened at this point, and will continue to thicken as it cools. Remove from heat.
• Set pot in a large bowl of ice water, still stirring. Add vanilla and stir to combine.
• Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on filling to prevent a skin from forming and place in refrigerator until ready to use.
• Place chocolate in a food processor and process until it's finely chopped. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Set aside. Heat cream in a small saucepan until the cream starts to steam, stirring often. Gradually add the hot cream to the bowl of chocolate, and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Wait until cool enough to handle but not hardened.
• When the cupcakes are cooled completely, transfer pastry cream filling to a piping bag with filling tip attached.
• Fill each cupcake with pastry cream and set aside.
• Dip each cupcake into the finished ganache. Allow 30 minutes to an hour for the ganache to set.

BOSTON CREAM PIE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour standard muffin tins. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Warm milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat.
• Beat eggs and sugar with a mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Beat in dry ingredients.
• Bring milk and butter to a boil. With mixer on low speed, add milk mixture to batter, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each halfway. Bake cupcakes until light gold, about 15 minutes. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Let cool.
• Using a serrated knife, cut each in half horizontally. Spread 1 tablespoon vanilla cream on each cupcake bottom. Sandwich with top. Spoon glaze over each and serve immediately.

BOSTON CREME MINI-CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Spray 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.
• Stir yellow cake mix, water, eggs, and vegetable oil in a bowl until moistened. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.
• Spoon cake batter into the prepared mini muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cupcakes have risen and are lightly golden brown, 15 to 19 minutes. Check for doneness after 10 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake should come out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool for about 20 minutes.
• Whisk instant French vanilla pudding mix and milk together in a bowl for 2 minutes. Allow pudding to stand for 5 more minutes to thicken.
• Pipe the vanilla pudding into each cupcake with about 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla pudding.
• Freeze filled cupcakes for at least 1 hour to make frosting them easier.
• Spread a very thin coating of chocolate frosting over each cupcake; refrigerate cupcakes for 15 minutes.
• Spread second, thicker layer of frosting over the first layer. Place small dollop of whipped cream into center of each frosted cupcake and top with a quarter of a maraschino cherry. Refrigerate mini cupcakes until serving time.

BOSTON CREAM PIE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners and set aside.
• Crack the eggs into a small container and set aside. Set the sugar aside. Then, in a small bowl, mix the gluten-free flour, nutmeg and salt together with a fork and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until the butter is light in color and fluffy. Add the sugar to the butter and continue beating until the sugar is uniformly incorporated into the butter. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then restart the mixer on low speed and add 1 egg at a time, waiting until it is fully incorporated in the butter mixture before adding the next egg.
• Once all the eggs have been added, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that all the butter is incorporated with the eggs. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk and oil, added in two additions, fully incorporating each addition into the batter before moving to the next step. If needed, stop the mixer after each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then resume mixing on low. Once all the dry ingredients and the milk have been combined with the butter mixture, evenly fill the cupcake pan cavities two-thirds of the way. Bake the cupcakes until the top of each cupcake is slightly springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately turn the cupcakes out of the pan onto a cooling rack. Let the cupcakes cool completely.
• Putting it all together: Using an apple corer or knife, core the centers out of the cooled cupcakes and remove. Fill the cupcakes with the Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream. Pipe the Dark Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream to cover the top of each cooled cupcake.
• Bring the shallow dish or container for the finished pastry cream near the stovetop, and have the plastic wrap nearby as well. Measure the butter and vanilla bean paste into a small container and bring over near the stovetop. Pour the milk and 1/4 cup sugar into a heavy saucepot and scald over medium heat until the milk starts to steam. Do not boil the milk!
• Meanwhile, whisk together the cornstarch and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar to combine and prevent any lumps in the cornstarch, and then add the whole egg and egg yolks. Whisk the egg yolk mixture until smooth and completely combined, and then bring over to the stove area and set the bowl with the yolks on top of a damp dish towel.
• When the milk is steaming, remove from the heat. Whisking the egg yolk mixture constantly, slowly pour the milk in a steady stream into the egg yolk mixture. Once all the milk is combined with the egg yolk mixture, pour it back into the saucepot and return to medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Continue whisking and bring it to a boil. Let the egg yolk mixture boil for 1 minute (and continue whisking constantly so lumps don't form!) and then remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla bean paste, and then pour the entire contents of the pot into the shallow dish.
• Immediately cover the surface of the pastry cream with the plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour. Once cool, remove from the refrigerator and whisk until completely smooth and lump free. Fill a piping bag with the pastry cream and set aside until you need it.
• Measure the sugar and 1/4 cup water into a heavy saucepan and heat over high heat until the sugar mixture reaches 250 degrees F, 15 to 20 minutes (use a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature).
• While the sugar is cooking, beat the egg whites on medium speed in the mixing bowl of a stand mixture to the soft peak stage (whites will look foamy and white). Be careful not to over whip the whites (if the egg whites start to look clumpy, then they've been over whipped. If this happens, toss them out and start again! If the whites are beating faster than the sugar is cooking, turn down the mixer speed. You can always turn up the speed if you need to!) Add the cream of tartar and continue whipping.
• While the egg whites are whipping on medium speed, gently pour the sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl. Turn the speed up to high and whip until the mixing bowl no longer feels warm to the touch, about 7 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval, until the chocolate is completely melted.
• Turn the mixer speed back to medium and add the butter in small chunks until it is completely incorporated. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla bean paste and sea salt. Turn the mixer back on medium-low speed until the vanilla paste has mixed entirely through the buttercream. Spoon a small amount (about 1/2 cup) of the buttercream into the melted dark chocolate and stir to combine. Add the chocolate mixture back to the buttercream and whip thoroughly, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the chocolate is combined.
• Fit an 18-inch plastic piping bag with an 847 star tip and twist the bag right by the tip to prevent the buttercream from leaking out. While you grasp the piping bag right above the star tip with your hand, fold the top of the piping bag over your hand and spoon the butter cream into the piping bag.