Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

 Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes- Tender chocolate cupcakes with a luscious creamy center, topped with heavenly chocolate buttercream. A chocolate lover’s dream!

Do you have fond memories of eating Hostess cupcakes as a child? We didn’t have a lot of money, so we rarely had them. They were a special treat, and I remember how much I loved them. I had one years later as an adult, and after one bite. . .blech! The chocolate was waxy, the cupcake was dry, and the filling tasted like sugared shortening. I thought to myself, “Why did I ever like these as a kid?” Either they changed the recipe, or my taste buds changed dramatically. Maybe both. 😉
Well, I have great news for you! These cream filled chocolate cupcakes blow the socks off the kind that come in a box!! Tender chocolate cake. Yummy filling- made with fabulous butter, not tasteless shortening. And all topped off with creamy chocolate frosting that is good enough to eat by the spoonful. All combined for a wonderfully delicious cupcake that will make your taste buds sing, not cringe.

I got the recipe for the filling from Our Best Bites. It is just as amazing as Sara described it. Light and fluffy, and not sickeningly sweet. Delish! There’s something so appealing about biting into something and finding a yummy surprise inside, isn’t there?

Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp oil
1 cups water
1 Tbsp vinegar

Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add oil, water, and vinegar. Whisk till smooth. Fill paper lined muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake at 375° for about 18-20 minutes. Let cool in pans for five minutes, then remove to cooling racks. Cool completely.

Cream Filling:
3 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Whisk together flour and milk in a medium saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat till thick and creamy like pudding. Cool completely. (I like to place my pan in a sink filled with about 3” of ice water to speed things up.)
Beat butter and sugar till creamy. Add milk mixture and vanilla. Beat for 7-10 minutes, or till smooth, thick, and creamy. It will look curdled at first, but keep beating and it will eventually turn out.

Frosting:
1/3 cup soft butter
1/3 cup cocoa
Pinch of salt
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
3-4 Tbsp milk or cream

Beat butter and cocoa till smooth. Add salt, powdered sugar, and about 2 tablespoons of the milk. Beat till smooth, adding more milk as needed to reach desired consistency.

To assemble cupcakes: Scoop filling into a pastry bag with a large tip. Poke a hole in the top of a cupcake and fill with about a tablespoonful of filling.
After all the cupcakes are filled with creamy goodness, pipe on the chocolate frosting with a large star tip. Enjoy!!

-Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes