I swiped this recipe from the New York Times and it REALLY DELIVERS. Jim said this was one of the top ten best desserts I have ever made! (A high compliment from a man with a wicked sweet tooth.)
It is charged with cream filling whipped up from marshmallow cream, heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and butter. Some of the best things in life! I think I did a poor job of folding the batter and the tops caved in a little when I took them out of the oven. (I started reading BakeWise and I believe this is called under-leavening?) The day I made these was a very anti-nonsense day. When things didn’t go my way, I’d pivot. I simply flipped over the concave tops and decorated their perfectly smooth bottoms instead. I think it actually worked better for the chocolate ganache to drizzle down the sloped sides instead of dripping on to the plate.
They really do taste like the original Hostess cupcake! However, some deviations are: the outer layer of the cake has a thin crunchy layer to it. You wouldn’t think crunch to a cake is desirable, but it was actually an extremely delicious texture. The cream filling tastes like real cream–not some strange, partially hydrogenated oil that can last 1,000 years without expiring.
Making the spirals was hands-down the best part. The cream filling and the spirals are actually the same. You just need to change your frosting tip to go from charging the bottoms to drawing fun spirals on top of the ganache layer.
There is a lot of cream filling–enough for double the batch of cupcakes–but I only made 12.
In other news, I am excited to start another aspect of my YouTube channel! I have so many food-related questions, and I love investigating the answers. I also love making videos, and so I thought I’d start summarizing my “research” into videos. Still deciding what to name it, but I’m thinking “Alexplained.” The upcoming video will be about veal and why it has such a bad reputation! Keep on the lookout for it!
In this new year, I am really trying to buckle down and focus on producing one video per week. I have mapped out a schedule and am really excited to dive into my food questions and answers. I filmed “Veal” this weekend and have almost finished my editing (which is really fun and I get to use Canva and Epidemic Sound which I cannot recommend enough for food blogging!) and I’ve already begun the next topic… Don’t worry about the PUTZY videos. Those will get updated too! They just take more time because they’re so, well…putzy.
Ingredients
For the cake batter
5/8 cup cake flour*
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar + 2 tbsp
For the filling and swirls
6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup marshmallow fluff
2 tbsp cream
For the chocolate frosting
1/4 cup cream
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
Process
For the cake
Separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a large bowl and the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer or other smaller bowl. A hand mixer is the easiest.
In the bowl with egg yolks, add cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda, 1/2 cup of sugar, and canola oil.
In the bowl with the egg whites, whip with a whisk attachment until frothy, about 1 minute. Add the pinch of salt and continue whisking for another minute. Slowly add 2 tbsp of sugar while whisking. Whisk until stiff peaks form and the structure remains intact, even when the bowl is turned upside down.
Spray a 12-cup cupcake tin with non-stick spray (no cupcake liners!!) and use an ice cream scooper to drop in 2-3 tbsp of batter into each cup. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack.
For the filling (and swirls)
Beat together butter, fluff, powdered sugar, and cream until thick and fluffy. Cut the tip of a pastry bag and insert the inner piping coupler. Place the pastry bag in a tall drinking glass, folding the top sides over the lip of the glass. Use a spatula to spoon the filling into the pastry bag. Then place a sharp piping tip over the inner coupler and twist the outer coupler on top. Inject the cupcakes from the bottom or the side with enough filling to make them swell. Don’t worry if it starts to puff out on the top of the cupcake. This will get covered in chocolate frosting. After injecting the cupcakes, you should still have plenty of filling left over to use for the swirls.
After you’ve frosted each cupcake with chocolate frosting (see below), you can change out your piping tip to a small round tip and piping the swirls onto the cupcakes. The standard Hostess cupcake has seven swirls!
For the chocolate frosting
In a microwave safe bowl, microwave cream and chocolate for 30-60 seconds. Add the butter and stir until you reach a smooth consistency. Spoon the chocolate over the tops of the cupcakes and spread evenly. Allow to set (the shine should dull) for about 5-10 minutes.
You can eat these right away, but I actually liked them a lot better after they had set overnight in the refrigerator!