Homemade Hostess Cupcakes

Ingredients
  • CUPCAKES
  • 1¼ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1¼ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1 stick (8 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • FILLING
  • 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla exrtact
  • 3 Tbsp. heavy cream
  • 1 cup marshmallow creme
  • GANACHE
  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • ICING
  • 4 Tbsp. butter, softened
  • 1 Tbsp. milk
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla
Instructions
  1. Place oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350.
  2. Spray muffin tins (18-20 muffins) with non-stick bakers spray (or line with paper liners).
  3. MAKE THE CUPCAKES: Place the sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Pour the sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer or a large bowl. Add the chocolate and butter and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture has cooled slightly. Stir in the vanilla.
  4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
  5. Place the chocolate mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer and add the eggs, beating on medium speed until well combined, then mix in the dry ingredients on low speed until the batter is smooth.
  6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Fill each muffin about ½ way (about ¼ cup batter per cupcake) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. The cupcakes will sink in the middle slightly. Cool in the pans for 25 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool completely.
  7. MAKE THE FILLING. While cupcakes are cooling, make the filling. Using a mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in ½ cup confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 Tbsp. heavy cream and beat until smooth. Alternating between batches, beat in the remaining ½ cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 Tbsp. heavy cream. Beat in the marshmallow creme. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  8. MAKE THE GANACHE. Place the chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl. Heat the cream and 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Add 2 tsp. vanilla; let stand until cool but still glossy and liquid.
  9. FILL THE CUPCAKES. Put the cream filling into a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip. Insert the tip into the center of each cupcake top; fill until the cupcake is heavier (do not overfill). It’s OK if some of the filling peeks out, it will be covered by the ganache.
  10. FROST THE CUPCAKES. When the ganache has cooled enough to work with, spoon a Tbsp. of ganache onto each cupcake and lightly spread with an offset spatula or a knife. Chill for at least 15 minutes.
  11. PREPARE THE ICING. Using a mixer, beat the remaining 4 Tbsp. butter, ¼ teaspoon vanilla, milk and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, adding more milk if needed. Spoon into a pastry bag with a small tip. Pipe the trademark curly-q’s onto the cupcakes to decorate.
  12. Store cupcakes in the refrigerator.

 

Homemade Twinkies

  • Nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup cake flour
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoonbaking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoonsalt
  • 2 tablespoonsmilk, preferably whole
  • 4 tablespoonsunsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoonvanilla extract
  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspooncream of tarter
  • Seven-Minute  Filling, er, Frosting

Directions

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F  (175°C) and adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position.
  • 2. To make your shiny,  single-use Twinkie molds, start with a piece of aluminum foil, preferably  heavy-duty, that’s approximately 14 inches long. It should be just a little  longer than it is wide. Fold the foil in half lengthwise, then fold it in half  again to create a rectangle that’s about 6 inches long and 7 inches wide. Repeat  to make a dozen rectangles.
  • 3. Place 1 sheet of folded  foil on your work surface, with the long side facing you. Place a standard-size  plastic or glass spice jar on its side in the center of the foil, the jar’s long  side also facing you. Bring the long sides of the foil up around the jar. The  foil won’t reach all the way around, and that’s okay. Fold the foil in around  both top and bottom ends of the spice jar, nice and tight. You’ll end up with a  sort of trough situation. Repeat until  you have 12 foil Twinkie molds. Spritz the molds with an obscenely generous  amount of nonstick spray or use your fingertips to coat the molds with vegetable  oil. Place the Twinkie molds on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan.
  • 4. Whisk the flours, baking  powder, and salt together in a bowl.
  • 5. Heat the milk and butter  in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat  add the vanilla. Cover to keep warm.
  • 6. Separate the eggs,  placing the whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk  attachment (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, a large mixing bowl) and  reserving the yolks in another bowl. Beat the whites on high speed until foamy.  Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to  beat until the whites reach soft, moist peaks.
  • 7. Transfer the beaten egg  whites to a large bowl and add the egg yolks to the standing mixer bowl—there’s  no need to clean the bowl (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, simply place the  egg yolks in a separate large bowl). Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6  tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and a  pale lemon color, about 5 minutes. Add the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but  do not mix.
  • 8. Sprinkle the flour  mixture over the egg whites and then mix everything on low speed for just 10  seconds (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, until blended but not thoroughly  combined). Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the  batter, and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl. Fold gently with a  large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and  yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes.
  • 9. Immediately scrape the  batter into the prepared molds, filling each with about 3/4 inch of batter. Bake  until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched,  13 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pan containing the molds to a wire rack and allow  the cakes to cool in the molds.
  • 10. Just before filling,  remove each cake from the foil. Using the end of a chopstick, poke three holes  in the bottom of each cake, just like in the bottom of real Twinkies. Wiggle the  tip of the chopstick around quite a lot to make room for the filling.
  • 11. Transfer the frosting to  a pastry bag fit with a small tip (about 1/4 inch across). Pipe the frosting  into the holes you created in the bottom of the cakes. As you fill each cake,  hold it in your hand and press your palm gently around it so you can feel the  cake expand, taking care not to overfill and crack the cake.
  • 12. Unlike real Twinkies,  these won’t last indefinitely. They’re best served still slightly  warm.
 
Homemade Sno-Balls
 
Chocolate Cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups milk (low fat is fine)

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease two 12-cup muffin tins (don’t bother using wrappers, as you’d just have to remove them to work with the cakes).
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract.
In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Add half of flour mixture to the butter mixture, followed by the milk, then finished with the addition of the rest of the flour mix. Stir well between each addition and mix only until no streaks of flour remain.
Evenly distribute batter into prepared baking cups. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. (It’s fine if you can’t fit both trays into the oven at the same time, just wait until one batch finishes before putting in the second pan).
Turn cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting and filling.

Prepare cooled cupcakes for filling by using a small pairing knife, to cut a cone of cake (1-inch across by 1-inch deep) out of the bottom of each cupcake. Trim off the pointy end of the cone, leaving a thin and flat circle of cake. Set aside and repeat this process for all the cupcakes. Centers can be discarded, but save the discs of cake to seal the filled cakes later. Cupcakes should be set upside down for this project.

Snowball Frosting
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract (optional)
3 cups sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut

Put the egg whites in to bowl of an electric mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer nearby.
Combine sugar, cream of tartar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cool until syrup reaches 242F (use a candy thermometer).
As syrup nears correct temperature, begin to beat egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly stream in the hot sugar syrup, followed by the vanilla and coconut extracts. Beat for about 10 minutes after everything has been incorporated, or until frosting reaches room temperature.
Meanwhile, process coconut in a food processor until very fine. Add a drop of two of red food coloring if you wish to make some pink. Pour into a shallow bowl and set aside.

Assembly
Place about 1 cup of frosting into a piping bag and pipe the filling into each hollowed out cupcake. Top off with a flat circle of cake to plug the hole and keep the filling in place.
Using a butter knife or a small offset spatula, frost the sides and top of each cupcake (the side with the hole cut out) with a thick layer of the frosting. Holding the cupcake carefully, gently roll it in shredded coconut and set, unfrosted-side down, on a serving platter. Repeat for each cupcake.

Makes 2-dozen.