Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Despite the name, Boston cream pie isn't a pie at all! It's a soft and buttery cake, filled with vanilla custard and slathered with chocolate glaze. I mean... there's nothing wrong with that picture! 

And that's the picture I wanted in MY kitchen. But, you know I can't stick to classic preparations. Instead of making one single cake, I turned the traditional cake batter into cupcakes (the batter isn't 100% traditional because I didn't heat the milk; I doubt you'll notice the difference). And, instead of making custard from scratch, I cheated by using vanilla pudding. I think you'll thank me for that - even though custard isn't hard to make, it takes time and you can't screw it up or you have to start over. No thank you. I want cupcakes sooner rather than later. 

About making a hole for the filling: I used a small paring knife to cut a "cone" out of the center of each cupcake. You can tell by the picture below. You can also use a melon baller - just remember to keep a little of the cake you scooped out to place over the filling. 

Got leftovers? These cupcakes are best the day they're made, but you can refrigerate them for up to 3 days. You may notice that the cupcakes seem denser after day one. Still awesome, just denser. 

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

Cooking spray or paper liners

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the chocolate glaze:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy cream

For the filling: 

1 1/4 cups vanilla pudding (I used 3 snack-size pudding cups)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or coat with cooking spray.
To make the cupcakes, in a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla.
Beat in the flour mixture and milk, alternating each, and beginning and ending with the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
Bake for 18 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean or with little bits of cupcake clinging to it.
Cool the pan on a wire rack (cool the cupcakes completely before filling and glazing).

To make the glaze, combine the chocolate chips and cream in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Heat until the cream starts to bubble, either 60 seconds in the microwave or over medium heat on the stovetop. Remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature. 

Hold each cupcake in one hand and insert a small paring knife, at an angle, about half way down into the cupcake. Cut a cone-shaped piece out of the center of each cupcake and reserve the cone (so you can put some of the cake back on top). They will look like this (I kept the cones next to each cupcake so I would know where they belonged!): 

Spoon the pudding into the holes. 

Trim the cones slightly and press them into the pudding. Spoon the glaze over top. 

Makes 12 cupcakes