Best Hostess Cupcakes Recipes

HOSTESS CUPCAKES COPYCAT

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Place paper liners in two 12-cup muffin pans.
• Prepare the cupcakes: Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Bring the sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Pour into 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. Using a mixer, beat in the eggs, then mix in the dry ingredients.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (about 1/4 cup batter per cupcake) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for about 25 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to a rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Using a mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon heavy cream; beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons heavy cream in batches, alternating after each addition. Beat in the marshmallow creme; set aside.
• Prepare the ganache: Place the chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl. Heat the cream and 1 tablespoon butter until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate; let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla; let stand until cool but still glossy and liquid.
• Spoon the filling into a pastry bag with a medium tip. Insert the tip into the center of each cupcake top; fill until the cupcake is heavier (do not overfill). Dip the cupcake tops in the ganache. Chill for at least 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the icing: Using a mixer, beat the remaining 1 stick butter, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, the milk and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spoon into a pastry bag with a small tip; pipe onto the cupcakes to decorate.

CREME FILLED "HOSTESS" CUPCAKES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 3 cupcake pans with liners. If using the foil liners, remove the paper insert so you're just using the foil part. Beat together all cupcake ingredients (besides chocolate chips) until smooth. Beat in chocolate chips on low until well incorporated. Batter will be thick.
• 2. Divide batter evenly between the 36 cups. (You're dividing the batter between 36 instead of 24 cups because you don't want domed cupcakes for these) Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You'll have to bake them in 2 batches to cook them all. Cool completely.
• 3. Using a knife (or a cupcake corer, if you have one) cut a circle into the top of the cupcake, removing part of the center, but not to the bottom of the cupcake. Save removed sections.
• 4. FOR THE CREME FILLING: In a large bowl, beat together the marshmallow creme and shortening until smooth. Add in powdered sugar, 1/3 C at a time, beating after each addition. Add in vanilla and salt and beat again. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition, until the filling is smooth and fluffy.
• 5. Using a piping bag, or a ziploc bag with a corner clipped, pipe the filling into the centers of the cupcakes. Replace removed cupcake sections on top of the creme, pressing gently to flatten. (You may have to remove a bit from the bottom of the saved sections to fit on top of the creme)
• 6. FOR THE GANACHE: Place chocolate chips in a large glass bowl. Heat heavy cream on the stove over medium low heat until it just starts to boil, whisking occasionally to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and add in butter, whisking until melted. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips in the bowl. Whisk continually as chocolate is melting. It will go from white, to medium brown, then to dark shiny brown when all the chocolate is melted. It will be very runny. Put in the fridge for about 30 minutes, whisking occasionally, until it thickens up slightly.
• 7. Spoon over each cupcake. Let cool for about an hour before piping on decoration.
• 8. FOR DECORATION: Simply stir up frosting in jar, spoon frosting into a piping bag or ziploc bag, and pipe desired design on top of the cupcakes.
• 9. Enjoy!

HOSTESS CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Make the cupcakes - Position a rack in the center and preheat oven to 325°F Lightly butter twenty-four 1-3/4" x 3/4" (1-oz) muffin of biscuit cups.
• Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix in the sugar. Make a well in the center. Whisk in the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Blend until smooth. (The batter will be very thin.).
• Spoon the batter into the prepared cups. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 12 to 14 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pans and finish cooling on the rack.
• To Make the filling - In a heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream to a boil. Add the white chocolate and remove from heat. Let the mixture stand briefly; stir until smooth. Transfer to a metal bowl and refrigerate until chilled thoroughly, stirring occasionally. (To speed the process, set the metal bowl over a larger bowl of ice water; stir the chocolate mixture until cool.) With an electric mixer, beat the white chocolate mixture just until fluffy, about 1 minute.
• Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch plain tip. Insert the pastry tip 1/4-inch into the bottom of each cupcake and squeeze a little filling into each one.
• To Make the glaze - Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Whisk in the boiling water and blend until smooth. One at a time, dip the top of each cupcake into the warm glaze. Turn the glazed cupcakes right side up and set them on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Refrigerate the cupcakes for 5 minutes to set the glaze.
• To Make the icing - In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Stir in the cream of tartar. Gradually mix in enough of the confectioner's sugar to make a fairly stiff and smooth icing. Fill a small paper cone with the icing and cut a 1/16-inch opening at the tip. Remove the cupcakes from the refrigerator. Pipe a design (a squiggle, spiral, etc.) on the top of each cupcake. Let the design harden and then cover and refrigerate the cupcakes. Serve at room temperature. The cupcakes can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance, or frozen up to 2 weeks.