Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

Boston Cream Cupcakes

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It’s T-2 hours and 11 minutes until the Superbowl, guys. I haven’t glanced at a clock in a couple hours, so how do I know that? I’ll tell you how — Dan has been counting down the hours, every hour, on the hour, out loud, since he woke up this morning. Yeah. He is really excited about this game.

Can’t really blame him for being all hyped up, though. His team is in the game, and they’re playing against — from what I can tell based on Dan’s enthusiastic heckling — their mortal enemy. Dan’s from Massachusetts, so you can probably guess which team he’s rooting for. The Greatest Team the World Has Ever Seen, with the Greatest Quarterback God Ever Created. Obviously. (I’m not allowed to say the names because Dan is afraid I’ll jinx them…)

Somehow, after 6 years of forced football watching, I still don’t know a whole lot about the sport. I don’t mind watching it, but I’m really not quite as excited about the upcoming game as Dan is.  I do, however, have kind of a vested interest in You-Know-Who winning (Dan’s crestfallen “my-team-just-lost” face is heartbreaking), so I figured I should show my support in the way I do best: baking. Every little bit helps, right?

Boston Cream Pie is the official dessert of Massachusetts, so I thought it would be a fitting tribute to our team to make some for our Superbowl Party. I figured the smaller cakes would be easier to eat during the game, so I decided to make Boston Cream Cupcakes instead of a single large cake. We haven’t sampled them yet, but the cupcakes  are moist and fluffy, and the pudding + ganache came together perfectly. If these things taste as amazing as they smell, we’ve got a winner on our hands. Happy Superbowl, everyone!

** Update: The cupcakes have been consumed. They are awesome!

For other great dessert ideas, click here.

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Boston Cream Cupcakes
Author: 
 
Ingredients
Cupcakes
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Filling
  • 1 packet instant vanilla pudding (I didn't have time to make my own custard from scratch, but if you want to, here's Martha's recipe for it.)
  • 1 cup milk
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
  • ⅔ cups heavy whipping cream
  • ¾ cups chocolate chips
  • 1 tbsp light corn syrup
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease two muffin tins.
  2. In a large microwaveable bowl, combine butter and milk. Microwave for about 1-2 minutes, or until butter is melted.
  3. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth.
  4. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well.
  5. Spoon batter into muffin tins, keeping cups about half full.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes.
  7. Set aside and allow to cool completely. Then, using a serrated knife, slice each cupcake in half horizontally
  8. In a small bowl, mix 1 packet vanilla pudding + cold milk, stirring until thick. (I accidentally bought vanilla pudding that wasn't individually  packaged, and called for 3 cups of milk to be used for the whole thing. I didn't need quite so much pudding, so I used about ⅓ of the packet + 1 cup of milk.)
  9. Spoon some filling onto the bottom half of a cupcake, then place the top back on, pressing down gently to push the cream out to the edges.  Repeat until all the pudding is gone. (You might end up with a couple extra, pudding-less cupcakes. You can dip those in chocolate or enjoy them plain.)
  10. In a large microwaveable bowl, combine chocolate chips and cream. Microwave for 1 minute, then gently stir mixture with a spoon until cream and chocolate are completely combined and you have a bowl of smooth, liquid chocolate. Stir in corn syrup.
  11. Spoon ganache over the top of each cupcake, allowing excess to run over the edges.
  12. Enjoy immediately!
Notes
One of my readers pointed out that in Martha's original recipe, there is a step involving beating the eggs and sugar separately until the mixture is thick and pale. I did not do that when I made these cupcakes, and they turned out well. However, the reader had trouble with her batter without this step. Just something to keep in mind!

 (Adapted from Martha Stewart’s recipe)

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Comments

    • Thanks! I was thinking that they looked like little cream puffs, but you’re right — they do look a lot like round chocolate eclairs!

      Reply

  5. I love boston creme pie, and now I have a great reason to bake again, these amazing things! I’m so excited I got into a baking frenzy again, & so does my husbands friends from work.. Can’t get enough of it!

    Reply

    • I’m so glad you’re excited to bake again! I’ve fallen into a rut before myself…it sucks. Let me know how these turn out for you!

      Reply

    • They turned out really well! The cakes were soft and fluffy, the pudding was light and creamy, and the ganache was of course chocolately and delicious. They were definitely a hit at the party, and at work the next day. Let me know how they turn out for you!

      Reply

  10. I can’t wait to try this recipe. The cream cupcakes look soooooo good!! I love your photography!
    I do have one question though: Is Martha Stewart’s recipe for vanilla cream (which makes 1-1/2 cups) enough to fill all the cupcakes or should I double the recipe?

    Reply

    • Thank you! I didn’t use Martha’s recipe for the vanilla cream, but I think it should be enough depending on how generously you fill your cupcakes. I had about 1-1/2 cups pudding, maybe a little less, but I super-filled my first few cupcakes for delicious picture-taking purposes, so I ran out of pudding with 3 cupcakes left to go. If you exercise moderation better than I did, I think 1-1/2 cups should be fine. Good luck!

      Reply

      • Thanks for the reply. I made these cupcakes yesterday, and they are delicious!! The amount of custard from the Martha Stewart recipe is just enough for all the cupcakes.

        I’m definitely making these again, but with one change. I’ll fill the muffin tins only a quarter of the way because the cupcakes really increase in size after baking. They were a little too big, and I couldnt enjoy the cake, custard, and chocolate together in every bite. Hopefully, when smaller, I’ll enjoy the intricacy of this dessert 🙂

        Reply

  11. how many ounces was the instant vanilla pudding you used with the 1 cup of milk? i want to make these right now haha (:

    Reply

    • I’m not sure how many ounces it was…it was just one big packet, and I roughly eyeballed about 1/3 of the powder. The full recipe was 3 cups of milk + 1 full packet, but I didn’t want quite so much pudding. You could always just go with the full packet and eat leftovers plain!

      Reply

  12. I made these cupcakes last night! They were good, but I think they were even better this morning. The chocolate sauce was a little on the thin side coming out of the microwave, so I decided to give them overnight in the fridge and it thickened nicely. I also think my family will enjoy a cool cupcake especially with cold pudding! These were delicious. Thanks! PS: Wish my pictures had come out as good as yours!

    Reply

    • I’m glad you liked them! I personally liked them more the next day post-fridge too. Cupcakes always taste better cold!

      Reply

  15. Did you let your ganache set for a while before putting it on top? I made it twice, I let it set the second time, but both times it was very watery. I followed the directions and measurements exactly. It tastes great but it looks like I just poured chocolate syrup on top and it soaked in. I love the idea, but do you have any tips on getting the ganache as thick as the ones in the picture? Thanks! I’m still giving them to my hubby as a coming home/early valentine’s gift. He LOVES boston creme!

    Reply

    • I don’t believe my ganache needed time to set — I think I made mine basically right before I needed to use it and it was OK. Not sure why the recipe isn’t working for you 🙁 But, usually when I have this problem, and my ganache is too thin/runny, I just add more chocolate until the mixture thickens. So, you can try reducing the amount of heavy cream used, or increasing the amount of chocolate chips, or both. Try it with 1 cup chocolate chips, and then add more chips or cream by the tbsp (as necessary) to achieve your desired consistency. Hope that helps!

      Reply

  17. Do you realize your recipe instructions skip the whole step about mixing the sugar and eggs? I could not figure out what was wrong with the batter until I went back and looked at the original Martha recipe. I had to throw it out and start over 🙁 Thanks for introducing Martha’s recipe to me . . . but I think your “adaptation” needs a little work in order to be followed correctly.

    Reply

    • Thanks for your comment, Rachel. Yes, I do realize that my instructions don’t follow Martha’s in terms of mixing the sugar and eggs. I did not follow that step when making my own cupcakes and they turned out well. Sorry it didn’t work for you, but hope you got tasty cupcakes out of it eventually! I’ll update the recipe with a note re: sugar/eggs to let other people know this could be a problem for them. Thanks!

      Reply

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