photo credit: slightly everything via photopin cc
When I’m not reading, blogging or doing homework, I’m cooking. Cooking is a lot like reading and writing: it brings ingredients together to create a single dish that tells a story of flavors, family, friends and experiences. And just like with books, you don’t have to be the creator. Sometimes we’re all just looking for a little eye candy. So here’s a little food for thought!
I don’t know if you all know this, but I’m a total foodie. A foodie is “someone who has an ardent or refined interest in food.” Cooking is all about discovery for me – seeing which ingredients work well together, what flavors can be created, and what new foods can be tried. So now I’m bringing this discovery to TGR!
Every Monday I’ll be sharing a new food find, recipe, and of course, some eye candy.
This week: Twinkie cupcakes
So it’s really no surprise that when I found this recipe for Twinkie cupcakes, I made it my mission to make them ASAP.
And let me tell you: they taste SO. GOOD. These cupcakes do Twinkies every bit of justice and then some. And there’s nothing wrong with indulging every now and then… right?
Just promise me you won’t run away when you see how much butter goes into these things.
INGREDIENTS
twinkie cupcakes
- 1 box yellow cake mix, plus ingredients on back of box
- 1 small box sugar free/fat free instant French vanilla pudding mix (note: I used regular because my grocery store didn’t have the sugar free/fat free kind, and it was fine.)
- 1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow fluff
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 teaspoons very hot water
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin tins with about 20 paper liners. Set aside.
- Prepare cake mix according to package directions, stirring the box of pudding mix into the cake batter to blend. Portion batter evenly among muffin cups, about 2/3 full, and bake for approx. 15-18 mins or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely, then core out the cupcakes’ middles with a sharp, small paring knife, careful not to cut through the entire cupcake. Eat or discard centers. (note: I ended up saving the centers, or at least the tops of the centers, to plug/cover the filling.)
- First, dissolve the salt into the hot water and allow to cool. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the marshmallow cream, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until fluffy. Beat in the salt water. Mixture should be light but not as stiff as frosting.
- Scoop filling into a resealable plastic bag, seal tight, and snip off a corner of the bag. Pipe the filling into each cored cupcake, filling just to the top. Refrigerate cupcakes while you prepare the frosting. (note: I’m going to stop right here. Yes, these cupcakes are also meant to be frosted with an icing similar to their filling. But it requires another stick of butter, and another jar of Fluff, and more powdered sugar. I just couldn’t do it. It seemed like overkill. And while I’m sure they taste good with the icing, they’re delicious even without it. Plus, the way I rationalized it for myself is that Twinkies don’t have any icing outside either. So hah! But if you want to go ahead with the icing, you can find the recipe for it at the above link.)
-
So what’s the final result look like?
Well, as I tweeted the other day, it looks like this:
I stuffed my Twinkie cupcakes and then re-capped them so they weren’t just open pockets of filling. When I started having less and less of the filling, I simply stopped coring the cupcakes and spread the filling on top, as icing.
And then I dove in. The good thing is you can eat these cupcakes two ways: right after you fill them, ’cause then they’re all full of gooey goodness, ready to burst, and after you chill them in your fridge, ’cause then they’re like your traditional Twinkie. Total win-win.
If my picture isn’t exactly making your mouth water, then you might want to look at this picture from The Domestic Rebel’s site. Cue drooling ………. now:
photo credit: slightly everything via photopin cc
When I’m not reading, blogging or doing homework, I’m cooking. Cooking is a lot like reading and writing: it brings ingredients together to create a single dish that tells a story of flavors, family, friends and experiences. And just like with books, you don’t have to be the creator. Sometimes we’re all just looking for a little eye candy. So here’s a little food for thought!
I don’t know if you all know this, but I’m a total foodie. A foodie is “someone who has an ardent or refined interest in food.” Cooking is all about discovery for me – seeing which ingredients work well together, what flavors can be created, and what new foods can be tried. So now I’m bringing this discovery to TGR!
Every Monday I’ll be sharing a new food find, recipe, and of course, some eye candy.
This week: Churro Cupcakes
When you think about churros, your mind immediately goes to those glorious sugary, golden sticks of dough. But today we’re going to think about churros in a different way – as CUPCAKES. Yes, you read that correctly. Churros. As cupcakes.
Really, what could be a better combination?
I first saw the churro cupcake recipe on Cecilia’s blog (check it out for the original page and her bookish insights!) and immediately began to drool over the pictures she posted, including this one:
Heaven, in the form of a cupcake. Look at all that caramel!
Needless to say, I was sold on the recipe and discovered I already had all of the ingredients. So I made them, of course! Mine didn’t come out nearly as pretty as Cecilia’s, but they still tasted absolutely wonderful. And that’s what matters most, right?
My churro cupcakes. (I drizzled them with caramel sauce AFTER this picture was taken.)
I’m not at all lying when I say that they’re delicious. Okay, yes, I am. Because they’re MARVELOUS. They’re the perfect go-to dessert for Autumn and Winter – or any time at all, really. You can never really go wrong with caramel on top of cupcakes. Especially churro cupcakes.
So whaddaya think? Ready to give ‘em a go? I hope so!
INGREDIENTS
cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 (1 stick) cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners; set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until just combined then stir in the vanilla and oil. Sprinkle 1/3 of the flour mixture over the butter mixture and gently stir in until barely combined. Add half of the milk, mixing until just combined. Repeat these steps with the remaining flour mixture and milk, ending with the flour. Do not over-mix.
Fill each cupcake tin with 2 tablespoons of batter, or until the cupcake tin is filled half way (do NOT be generous). Bake the cupcakes for 14 to 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with one or two crumbs clinging to it. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.??
For the frosting: Cream the butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl. Add the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Then stir in the vanilla. Beat the mixture well, until light and fluffy.
Pipe onto cupcakes, sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar and top with a drizzle of Dulce De Leche (or caramel sauce) if desired.
*Note: I’m not much of a baker, so making cupcakes from scratch and, well, NOT from a box mix was a little daunting at first. But this recipe is so simple and easy enough to follow that I actually ended up making these 2-3 weeks straight. No lie. So if I can do it, you can, too. And the awesome thing is you’ll be proud of what you’ve done with such little work, and everyone else will think you’re a Cupcake Queen (or King!). Win-win!
