Boston Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups cold whole milk
• 1 (3.4-ounce) box vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 12 pre-made cupcakes baked from a cake mix
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Directions

Combine milk, instant pudding mix, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat mixture with a hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until it thickens. Place mixture in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Spoon filling into a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain tip. Fill cupcakes with vanilla pudding filling by inserting tip into top of cupcake and squeezing a couple of tablespoons of filling into each cupcake.

Heat cream in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges. Remove from heat, add chocolate morsels to pan, and whisk until smooth. Spoon or drizzle glaze over cupcakes, or dunk the tops into the glaze. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour, before serving.

S'mores Cupcakes

I must say, these are sooooooo good! One of my favorites. I injected the core of these graham-crust bottomed chocolate cupcakes with a marshmallow cream filling. Mounded just enough marshmallow cream on the tops of the cakes to stick the mini-marshmallows on top. Then I toasted the tops with a kitchen torch and garnished with a single Hershey's square. Super adorable, delicious, and perfect for the summer months.

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ¼ cup sugar
• 5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• 1½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; mix well with a fork. Drop about 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. (Note: I found the bottom of my squeeze bottle to be the perfect size to do this job neatly and quickly.) Sprinkle a small amount of the chopped chocolate on top of the graham cracker crusts. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, and maintain the oven temperature.
• To make the cake batter, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on low speed just to combine. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; whisk together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the boiling water and stir just to combine (batter will be thin).
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full. Return the pans to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  
  Marshmallow Cream Filling:
  

  1

  jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme

  1/2

  cup butter or margarine, softened

  2

  cups powdered sugar

  1

  to 2 teaspoons milk

In large bowl, beat marshmallow creme, butter and powdered sugar on low speed until blended. Beat in enough milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to make frosting spreadable.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Twist Cupcakes

ingredients

• 1/2
  cup butter
• 3
  eggs
• 2 1/2
  cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2
  teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2
  teaspoon salt
• 1/3
  cup peanut butter
• 1
  cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4
  cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2
  teaspoons vanilla
• 1
  cup milk
• 4
  ounces milk chocolate, melted
• 1
  recipe Peanut Butter Frosting
• 1
  recipe Chocolate Frosting
• Shaved milk chocolate and/or bite-size chocolate-covered peanut butter cups, halved

directions

1.Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line thirty-four to thirty-six 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add peanut butter; beat until combined. Gradually add brown sugar and granulated sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed until combined. Scrape sides of bowl; beat for 2 minutes more or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

3.Place half of the batter into a separate mixing bowl; add melted chocolate. Beat with electric mixer on low speed just until combined.

4.Fill prepared muffin cups by alternating spoonfuls of peanut butter batter and chocolate batter, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Use a butter knife or skewer to swirl batter.

5.Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

6.In a pastry bag fitted with a star or round tip place Peanut Butter Frosting side-by-side with the Chocolate Frosting. Pipe frostings onto cupcakes. Top with shaved chocolate and/or peanut butter cup halves. Makes 34 to 36 (2-1/2 inch) cupcakes.

Margarita Cupcakes

CAKE:
9 ounces Margarita Mixer, bottled liquid
3 ounces tequila
3/4 ounce Grand Marnier
1 (18.25 ounce) box white cake mix
3 large egg whites
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Tablespoon lime zest
LIME BUTTERCREAM ICING:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 to 6 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime zest
green food coloring, if desired
small lime slices for garnish, if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two dozen cupcake tins with paper liners.
2. Prepare cupcakes: Whisk together margarita mix, tequila and Grand Marnier in a small bowl. Measure out 1 1/4 cups for the recipe; pour the rest on some ice and drink it while making the cupcakes :)
3. In a large bowl, blend cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, lime zest and 1 1/4 cups of the margarita mix from step 1. Blend on low for about 30 seconds and then increase speed to medium and blend for two additional minutes. Batter will be slightly lumpy.
4. Spoon the batter into cupcake liners (about 3/4 full). Bake for 20-25 min, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, then remove them to a rack to cool completely.
5. Prepare icing: Once cucpakes are completely cooled, prepare the icing. Place butter in a large bowl and beat with electric mixer until butter is fluffy. Add 5 cups of powdered sugar, salt, lime juice, and lime zest. Mix until thick and creamy. Add more powdered sugar until the frosting is of a good spreading (or piping) consistency. Mix in a tiny amount of green food coloring or gel paste if you'd like the frosting to have a green tint. Ice cupcakes in whatever manner you prefer... spreading or piping the frosting. Use small lime slices as garnish.

Tips:

*Conversions: 9 ounces = a little over a cup, 3 ounces = a little less than 1/3 cup, 3/4 ounce = 1 1/2 Tablespoons
*Grand Marnier is an orange liqueur- sub another kind if you'd like or add in some orange juice.
*Don't worry too much about exact measuring for the margarita mix/tequila/Grand Marnier. Just eyeball it and measure out the 1 1/4 cups that you'll need for the recipe.
*If you just spread frosting on the cupcakes (rather than piping), you'll probably have a bit of frosting leftover.

From: RecipeGirl

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes baked in kiddie sized ice cream cones. These are incredibly simple. You literally just bake the batter in the cones as you normally would in tins.  I stood these tiny kiddie cones in a mini-cupcake tin while baking Topped with cream cheese frosting. Assorted toppings: orange cream crunch, cookies n' cream crunch, chocolate nut crunch, and nut crunch.

Devil's Food Cupcake with Kiss Core & Nutella Frosting

  

Devil's Food Cupcake

• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 6 ounces butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup buttermilk

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together boiling water and cocoa. Cover and set aside. With a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue creaming until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder and add this mixture, alternately with the buttermilk. Add cocoa and water mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Scoop into cupcake pans. Press one chocolate kiss upside down into the center of the batter. Bake full size cupcake for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on your oven.

Nutella Frosting

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup Nutella
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, Nutella, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

German Chocolate Minis with Nutella Frosting

German Chocolate Cupcake

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
• 2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted, plus more for tins
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush standard muffin tins with butter; dust with cake flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together cake flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in chocolate until combined.
3. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes. Run a small offset spatula or knife around the edges to loosen; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers

Nutella Frosting

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  1 cup Nutella
  5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (actually, I use 2tsp because I usually double my vanilla)
  1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, Nutella, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.