Hostess Cupcakes

Last night, I went to a "Favorite Things" party -- a gift swap party where each person brings 3 sets of something you consider your favorite, and a preset dollar limit (we chose $10 for each set).  During the party, we each drew a number, and for Round 1, each person, starting from low to high numbers, got to pick from the group of everyone's favorite thing offerings; for Round 2, we went from high to low numbers to pick the next gift; and for Round 3, we put our numbers back in the hat and redrew.  Everyone would leave with three different gifts (and there was no nastiness with swapping gifts).  I took home with me $10 in cash, a $10 Amazon gift card, and a martini glass with nips of Ketel One and Chambord (ok, so I took home my own favorite thing.  Hey, no one else wanted it, so more for me!).  So that's the long story behind why I had a party that I had to bring a dessert (actually, Catherine was supposed to bring the dessert, but since she was at dance practice all day, I took care of it).  I had pinned this recipe for Hostess Cupcakes a while back, and was really looking forward to making them.  What better party to make a childhood fave than a party about favorite things?  YUM YUM YUM!

For the cupcakes:

• 3 cups flour 
• 1 cup cocoa powder 
• 2 tsp. baking soda 
• 1 tsp. salt 
• 1 cup canola oil 
• 2 cups sugar 
• ¾ cup applesauce 
• 1 cup milk 
• 1 cup water 
• 1 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners. 
2. Combine your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Set it aside. 
3. Add oil and sugar into your standing mixer bowl.  Mix well. 
4. Stir in applesauce and vanilla. 
5. Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Mix until combined. 
6. Slowly pour in the water to the wet ingredients.  Mixing on low until combined. 
7. Add the 2^nd half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Scrape sides of the bowl as needed.  Combine until just mixed. 
8. Slowly add the milk to the wet ingredients.  Beat on low until well combined. 
9. Fill each cupcake liner about half full. 
10. Bake for 15-18 minutes. 
11. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before adding filling.

For the filling:

• 9 Tbsp. butter, softened 
• ¾ cup plus 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar 
• 1 tsp. vanilla 
• 2 cups marshmallow fluff

DIRECTIONS

1. Cream the butter and sugar together. 
2. Stir in your vanilla. 
3. Mix in the marshmallow fluff, whisking until light and fluffy. 
4. Cover with plastic wrap. 
5. Place in the refrigerator and chill for at least 10 minutes.
   (Original recipe calls to chill for 30 minutes, however, I had a harder time pushing the filling through the piping bag the more chilled it was) 
6. After cupcakes are cooled and filling chilled, add the filling to the cupcakes. 
7. Using a pasty bag and tip, insert the tip into each cupcake and squeeze filling into the cupcakes.

 

For the frosting:

• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened 
• 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup 
• ½ tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt your butter, chocolate chips, and corn syrup.
   (I did it on the stove top under medium-to-low heat, stirring constantly.  The recipe called for adding the ingredients to a microwavable bowl and microwaving, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth and glossy.) 
2. Stir in your vanilla. 
3. Cover your bowl of frosting and chill for 10-20 minutes until thickened slightly.
   (Recipe suggests up to 30 minutes, however I noticed the frosting became too thick.  If it gets too thick, put back on low heat or microwave for a couple minutes to soften slightly, and stir) 
4. Once frosting is chilled, remove from refrigerator and stir. 
5. Frost cupcakes. 
6. Using a piping bag and pastry tip, with the leftover filling, add the classic Hostess design.

Adapted from Sugarfoot Eats blog