Tag Archives: filled cupcakes

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Ruthanne

Delicious white cupcakes filled with a lemon cream and topped with lemon buttercream and a scoop of whipped topping! Yum!!!

I love lemon- but in moderation. A dessert that is overwhelmingly lemon isn’t my favorite (which is why you see very few lemon recipes on this blog!) These are the perfect creamy mix of white cake and sweet lemon flavor though. I love them! I’ve become a big fan of putting a scoop of whipped topping in the center of a cupcake and surrounding it with a flavored buttercream. It cuts the sweetness and the flavor. These also have a creamy lemon filling that is sooooo yummy.

Ready for the recipe? Here you go. (printable version here)

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed white cake mix with eggs, water and oil to make according to package
One small package of instant lemon pudding (with 2 cups of milk to make according to package)
2 tubs of Cool Whip topping (frozen)
2 sticks of butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of lemon extract
Yellow food coloring
Lemon drops and sprinkles (optional for decoration)

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package and bake in 24 cupcake liners placed in a muffin tin. Cool completely.
Make pudding mix according to package. Spoon about 1/3 cup into a small zip-top bag and set aside.
Add 1/2 of one container of Cool Whip, to remaining pudding, mixing until well- combined. Place in a zip-top bag and set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar, lemon extract and yellow food color together on high until light and fluffy. Place in a zip-top bag with a circular decorating tip inserted into one corner. Set aside.
Remove a core from each cupcake. You can use a knife or a cupcake corer to do this, but save the top of this core.
Clip a corner off the pudding/Cool Whip mixture bag and pipe this into the center of each cupcake, setting the top of the core back on when filled.
Use a medium cookie scoop, melon baller or ice cream scoop to spoon a rounded ball of frozen Cool Whip onto the center of each cupcake.
Pipe lemon frosting around the edges of this scoop by squeezing small circles of frosting all around the edge.

Cut a small(!) corner off the bag of plain pudding and drizzle this over the top.
Decorate as desired. If you use a lemon drop, add this just before serving so it doesn’t get sticky.
Keep these cupcakes refrigerated until serving.
Enjoy!!!

My thoughts: These are truly delicious. They are light and refreshing and just the right blend of lemon and sweet. A perfect summer dessert! I really hope you enjoy them! ~r

Other light and refreshing summer treats: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

2 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged cool whip, cupcake, cupcakes, filled cupcakes, lemon cream, lemon cream pie, lemon cupcakes, lemon dessert, lemon drops, lemon pudding, summer cupcake idea, summer dessert, summer dessert idea, whipped topping. Bookmark the permalink.

Watermelon Cupcakes

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Ruthanne

What could be a better picnic treat than these sweet watermelon cupcakes~ covered in “ants” and filled with chocolate chip seeds???

These are so fun to make- and watching people’s surprise at that filling is fun too! My favorite comment? “Oh my, this tastes like WATERMELON!” Um…yes. It does. *smile*

This recipe uses a cake pop maker. I hesitantly purchased one a few years back to make a polka dot cake, and I thought I’d end up selling it on a garage sale after that one use. NOT SO!!! I love it! So many possibilities! I just made fun little pancake balls the other day for breakfast- not to mention all the yummy recipes we have done here with it! Get a cake pop maker!! (or, if you must, make your pink centers in mini muffin tins. Just know that you are missing out on some serious fun!)

I also used fondant on the top of these cupcakes. I know that for many of you, this step is a tedious one and I say frost these cupcakes however you like! Green frosting, pink frosting with sprinkles of mini chips….whatever! Just don’t miss out on that fun center!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed white cake mix (with water, oil and eggs to make according to box)
One small packet of watermelon Kool-Aid drink mix
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 stick of salted butter
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of clear vanilla
Green, Pink, and Black Food Color Gels
One box of Wilton fondant in white (or make your own, using my recipe)

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package
Remove one cup of batter and place in a separate bowl.
Add 1/2 a packet of Watermelon Kool-Aid powder (use more or less to taste)
Add pink color gel to intensify the color to desired shade
Mix in mini chocolate chips.
Bake in cakepop maker (or use a small mini-muffin tin), making 24 cake pops (or mini-muffins)

Add green color gel to remaining batter, mixing well.
Spoon a little green batter into a cupcake liner, placed in a cupcake tin.
Place pink cake pop on top.
Spoon green batter over the top, covering the cake pop. Use less, rather than more batter here- if you use too much it will bake over the edges.
Bake at 350F degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Cool completely.
Make frosting by placing butters, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beating on high for 3-4 minutes until very light and fluffy.
Color frosting green, if desired, and set aside.
IF you use fondant, color a batch with green color gel (leave out a little bit to make ants if desired), cut into circles that fit the top of your cupcakes using a round cookie cutter. Keep circles covered to prevent drying.
Working one cupcake at a time, spread frosting and then gently lay fondant on top of frosting and press edges down inside of cupcake liner.
Use dark green color gel with a little water (think watercolor paints) to paint on watermelon stripes.
Color remaining fondant black and roll into 3 small balls to stick together as an ant on each cupcake. use a toothpick or small brush to paint little ant legs under each ant.

***If you have used fondant before, this should all be easy, but if this is your 1st time and you are wondering what I mean by things like “color fondant”, see my tutorial on making and using fondant here. You’ll make your ants like the caterpillars shown in the tutorial.***

My thoughts… These are really fun little cupcakes. I’m not a huge fan of watermelon flavor, but only the center is flavored and for me it was the perfect little surprise “pop” of flavor. You could certainly add Kool-Aid to your frosting too- it will just end up being a little pink, rather than green.

Nothing says SUMMER like watermelon~ enjoy these little cupcakes at YOUR next summer celebration!! ~r

Other ways to use that cake pop machine you just got 😉 (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged best, cake pop machine, cake pops, chocolate chips, cupcakes, filled cupcakes, fondant, fun, Kool-Aid dessert, Kool-Aid recipe, picnic treats, recipe, Summer recipe, watermelon, watermelon cupcakes, Watermelon Kool-Aid. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Pecan Pie Cupcakes

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Ruthanne

If you like pecan pie, you will go nuts over these cupcakes! With caramel pecan pie filling in the middle and crisp pie crust decorating the top, these say Happy Thanksgiving in a fun new way!

There’s nothing more yummy than a warm caramel pecan pie in the fall. I have a favorite- and it’s here already on Easybaked as my Christmas Eve Caramel Pecan Pie. These cupcakes take that pie up a notch and they turned out better than I even imagined they would~yum!

There are a couple of steps to this recipe, so it is a little more time consuming, but well worth the effort~ I promise!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:

One boxed caramel cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)

Pie filling:

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (melted)
3 eggs (these are in addition to the eggs used for cake mix)
1 (12 oz) jar of caramel topping
2 cups chopped pecans (plus 24 pecan halves for decorating if desired)

Frosting and pie crust toppers:

One refrigerated pie crust
1 cup (2 sticks) of salted butter
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of clear vanilla flavoring

DIRECTIONS:

Pie Filling:

Make pie filling 1st. Start by preheating oven to 350F degrees
In a large mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs together lightly with a fork.
Add sugar, stirring until dissolved
Stir in caramel topping and butter
Stir in chopped pecans
Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Cool completely (I placed this in the fridge to cool more quickly)

Cupcakes:

As the pie filling bakes, make cake mix according to directions on boxed mix and divide evenly among 24 cupcake liners placed in a tin.
Once pie filling is finished, bake cupcakes according to box.
Remove cupcakes from oven and tins and allow them to cool completely.

Frosting and pie crust toppers:

Unroll pie crust onto counter and use any cookie cutter you like to cut into 24 pieces. I used a fall leaf Linzer cookie cutter and added the leaf cut-outs on the cupcakes too.
Place pie pieces on a cookie sheet and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
Bake until slightly browned and crispy. Cool.

Make frosting by combining butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beating on high for 3 to 4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Assembling Dessert:

To assemble cupcakes, make sure everything has cooled. Use a cupcake corer to remove a core out of the center of each cupcake.
Scoop or spoon some pie filling into each cupcake and replace the top of the core back on top of the filling.

Place frosting into a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe swirls of frosting on the top of each cupcake.
Add a pie crust topper and a pecan half and ENJOY!!!!

My thoughts: These really do capture the delicious flavor of pecan pie. They were a big hit with everyone who tried them. I really liked the pie crusts on top- so yummy in that buttercream frosting! I hope you have a chance to try this recipe out! Enjoy! ~r

Love pecans? We do too! Here are some other yummy pecan recipes. Just click on a photo to see the recipe!

Need a fun and unique gift idea? Easybaked has adorable boxed sets of notecards. They have an Easybaked dessert photo on the front and a recipe on the back! The come in a cute box and the best part? They are ON SALE for Christmas, include free shipping and the site that is hosting them offers $10 off a $50 purchase! Enjoy!!! (Click on photo for more information)

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged buttercream frosting, caramel, caramel cupcakes, caramel sundae topping, chopped pecans, christmas, cupcakes, dessert, filled cupcakes, pecan, pecan pie, pecan pie cupcakes, pie crust, pie crust cut-outs, recipe, thanksgiving. Bookmark the permalink.

Fall Apple Cupcakes

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Ruthanne

Celebrate fall with these cute little apple cupcakes! Filled with a chocolate chip “seed” core, these are sure to make everyone smile!

Well. Fall is here. I just began to notice the changing leaves this week, and of course every morning it’s a little bit darker on my drive to work.

Every fall, our family makes a special trip to a local orchard to sample apples, doughnuts and cider. As the temperatures drop I find myself looking forward to pumpkins and rustling leaves and all the fun flavors that come with this new season! These little cupcakes don’t taste like apples, but they sure do look like them! I even added a fun seeded core to these, using my trusty cake pop maker.

How fun is that? Surprise chocolate chips are always a plus in my book! You can skip the “core” if you want- just make solid-colored cupcakes instead of using my added steps in the recipe. Either way, these are a lot of fun and easy to make!

Here’s the recipe: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

1 boxed white cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs to make according to package)
Food coloring gels in desired colors.
1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips (if making core)
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened
2 sticks (1 cups) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of vanilla
Colored sugar sprinkles (in desired colors)
Fondant for stems and leaves (or use pretzel sticks for the stems and spearmint gummy leaves instead!)

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package
Remove one cup of batter and place in a separate bowl.
Mix in mini chocolate chips.
Bake in cakepop maker (or use a small mini-muffin tin), making 24 cake pops (or mini-muffins)
Divide remaining batter into separate bowls and color using color gels. I did green, red and yellow apples, but you can do just one of those colors if you want.
Place cupcake liners into tins and spoon just a small amount of batter into each liner.
Use a cake pop to spread batter evenly into bottom of liner and then leave the cake pop in the center.
Spoon remaining batter evenly over the cake pops, covering each pop completely.

Bake at 350F degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Cool completely.
Make frosting by placing butters, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beating on high for 3-4 minutes until very light and fluffy.
Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop frosting on each cupcake, and then turn cupcake upside down into a bowl of decorating sugar, pressing until all of frosting is covered in sugar.
Decorate with fondant leaves and stems, or use pretzels and spearmint leaves.
To use fondant, you can buy it already made in white and color it with gel in green and brown, or you can make it from scratch and color it the same way.
Use a leaf fondant cutter to make leaves and just roll and cut the stems.
If you are new to fondant, we did a tutorial on it here. It is MUCH easier than it seems like it would be, and you can make such cute decorations with it!

My thoughts: These are such a happy fall treat! You can go all- out and make little chocolate chip cores, or just make plain cupcakes in various colors. Either way, they are a yummy, easy, fall treat that look beautiful on a fall-themed table. Hope you get a chance to try these! Enjoy!! ~Ruthanne

Other fun fall recipes here on easybaked:

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged apples, best, buttercream frosting, cupcakes, fall, filled cupcakes, fondant, fun, Halloween, leaves, October, party, recipe, school, teachers, unique, vanilla. Bookmark the permalink.

Rocky Road Cupcakes!

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Ruthanne

These chocolate cupcakes are filled with creamy marshmallow and topped with a rich ganache frosting, marshmallows and almonds! YUM!!!!!

These are fork-eating cupcakes! You’ll love that combination of rocky road flavors in these rich and messy-to-eat cupcakes.

I absolutely love this frosting. I have used ganache for many recipes, but I’d never taken the time to whip it up into a frosting. Now that I’ve tried it, I will be back for more- this frosting is so rich and chocolatey!!! Ready for a recipe?

Here you go: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

One box of chocolate cake mix (with oil, water and eggs to make according to package)
One large jar (13 oz) of Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
One bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips *
1/2 cup of whipping cream *

(*double these two ingredients if you want to pile your frosting high like mine is)

One bag of mini-marshmallows
1 cup of slivered or sliced almonds
a little white chocolate to drizzle on top, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

Start your frosting first, as it needs to chill before you beat it, and double the recipe if you want piles of frosting like mine. I went a little overboard for fun pictures!! 🙂
Place 1/2 cup of whipping cream into a medium saucepan and heat it on the stove until the cream starts to bubble just a bit on the edges, stirring as it heats. Turn off the heat, add the chocolate chips and cover for 5 minutes.
Stir melted chocolate and warm cream together until completely smooth (a “ganache”). Put it in a medium bowl and refrigerate until it is a cool, spoonable consistency (30 minutes to an hour).
Make cake mix according to box, and divide equally into 24 cupcake lines placed in a muffin tin.
Bake as directed on box, and cool completely.
Core cupcakes using a small knife, or a cupcake corer. I used the Chicago Metallics one, and for $4 there is just no reason to not get one- it makes filling cupcakes SOOOO easy! Isn’t your birthday coming up???

Spoon entire jar of marshmallow fluff into a gallon-size zip-top bag and clip a corner off with scissors. Squeeze the marshmallow into the middle of each cupcake and then trim a little of the core you removed and place the “lid” back on top of the filling.
Remove cooled chocolate ganache from refrigerator and beat on high until light and fluffy.
Place icing in a gallon size zip-top bag that has been fitted with a decorating tip in one corner, and pipe icing onto the cupcakes.
Decorate with almonds, and mini marshmallows. I also added some mini chocolate chips (because I had some leftovers from another recipe) and I melted some white chocolate to drizzle on top. Be creative and make these little marshmallow-y cupcakes irresistible!!!!

My thoughts: These are FABULOUS cupcakes. I love the gooey marshmallow creme surprise in the middle! And that frosting….. oh my. A few tips: the frosting does harden up, so get those almonds and marshmallows placed in it as soon as you are done piping the frosting on. This is good, because it holds all those yummy toppings in place! Also, store these all sealed up. You know what happens when you leave the bag of marshmallows open? Yucky, rubbery, dried up marshmallows! The same will happen if you just let these set out.

I hope you love these little yummy desserts!!!! ~r

Want some other ideas for that new cupcake corer? We love filled cupcakes here at Easybaked! Here’s a few of our favorites:

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged almonds, baking, best, chocolate, chocolate chips, cupcake, cupcake corer, cupcakes, dessert, fancy cupcakes, filled cupcakes, frosting, ganache, marshmallow, recipe, rocky road, unique dessert, whipped ganache frosting, white chocolate. Bookmark the permalink.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Ruthanne

Rich chocolate cupcakes filled with peppermint cream and topped with a chocolate frosting made with hot chocolate mix ~ a perfect winter treat!

(the hot cocoa frosting is to DIE for…just thought you should know that right up front….!)

I love hot chocolate…. it is one of my favorite parts of winter. My friend Dawn recently suggested we participate in a Hot Chocolate Run. If you’ve never heard of this (I hadn’t!) let me show you a little of the amazingness that makes up a Hot Chocolate Run.

Nothing motivates better than chocolate, I always say! Who needs a medal when you can have a big cup of cocoa and warm chocolate fondue after a race?

In any case, I’ve been moderately addicted to hot cocoa ever since that weekend. We all know what happens when I get a flavor stuck in my mind right? Cupcakes happen. Hot Chocolate Cupcakes in this case– with some peppermint as a bonus. If you don’t like peppermint you can easily leave it out of this recipe, but I love the combination! Are you ready to make these? Here we go.

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed dark chocolate cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs needed to make mix according to box)
One packet of Dream Whip (what is Dream Whip? Click HERE)
1/2c. cold milk
3 t. vanilla (divided)
3 tablespoons of finely crushed peppermint candies (I used Peppermint Sprinkles )
1 stick (4 oz.) of salted butter at room temp.
1 stick (4 oz.) of unsalted butter at room temp.
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix (I used Nestle)
Kraft Mallow Bits and peppermint candies to decorate as desired.

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to box, and bake in 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins.
Cool cupcakes completely.
Make cream filling by placing Dream whip, milk and 1 t. vanilla in a mixing bowl and beating on high until light and fluffy.
Add finely crushed peppermint candy and gently fold in until well combined.
Hollow a core out of each cupcake (I used a Chicago Metallic Cupcake Plunger that was recommended to me by a friend– LOVED it!)

(If you have baking friends this is SUCH an inexpensive and fun stocking stuffer idea– it only took me about 5 minutes to core all 24 cupcakes– and I stopped to take pictures!)

Pipe filling into each cupcake core.
Make frosting by combining butters, powdered sugar, cocoa mix and 2 t. vanilla in a large bowl and beating on high until fluffy.
Pipe frosting over cupcakes and decorate as desired. (The mallow bits were really yummy with this frosting!

My thoughts: Fun and yummy winter treat!! Not a fan of peppermint? Just leave the crushed peppermint out of the filling and you have a yummy whipped cream taste with your hot chocolate frosting instead!

One note: Put the peppermints on just before serving as the frosting eventually makes them a little sticky. I hope you and your family love these little treats! Enjoy!!! ~r

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, chocolate, chocolate cake mix, chocolate frosting, christmas, crushed peppermints, cupcake, cupcake liners, dessert, dream whip, filled cupcakes, food, frosting, holiday, Hot chocolate, hot chocolate cupcake, hot chocolate mix, hot cocoa mix, mini- marshmallows, peppermint, peppermint hot chocolate. Bookmark the permalink.

Gender Reveal Cupcakes!

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Ruthanne

Is it a boy? Is it a girl? You’ll have to take a bite of this cupcake to find out! Such a fun way to reveal the gender of a coming baby!!!

About a month ago I was on a mission to create some gender-reveal party desserts for my cousin Ericka. I posted a gender reveal fudge cookie that she actually used and everyone loved. She’s a teacher and her students loved the idea that the cookies held a “secret”. I promised to post more recipes for gender reveal parties and this one is SO INCREDIBLY EASY!!! It uses a cake mix and some food coloring and thats IT. I was browsing the baking aisle a few weeks ago and came across a new product by Betty Crocker called “FUN da-Middles“. It is a cupcake mix that comes with a creamy filling. They come in both yellow and chocolate. I simply HAD to try this (because who doesn’t love filling inside of anything??!!). They work beautifully- easy to make and they bake up into the most beautiful cupcakes. But I wondered if you could change the filling color without causing a recipe fail.

This was the result: so much fun! Here’s how:

INGREDIENTS:

One box of FUN-da-Middles cupcakes with a white cream filling (plus eggs, water and oil to make according to box, and 12 cupcake liners).
One tub of Betty Crocker Rich Creamy Vanilla Frosting 16 oz
1/2 container of Cool Whip topping
Wilton Icing Color in pink and blue (or in any other color you want!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make cupcakes according to box- but instead of cutting a corner off the bag of cream filling and piping over cupcakes, pipe it into a bowl and color it 1st.
Color cream filling with Wiltons Icing color- it won’t change the consistency of the filling because it is a gel and you only need a TINY bit to create a bright color.
Place colored cream into a small ziptop bag. Zip it shut, clip a corner of the bag off and pipe filling on to cupcake batter as directed on box.
Bake according to box and cool completely.
Mix 1/2 of a container of Cool Whip with a can of white frosting.
Clip the corner of a large ziptop bag and slide a cake decorator tip into the open corner. Fill the bag with frosting, zip it closed and pipe generous amount on top of cupcakes.
Decorate as desired. (I used Wiltons candy melts in a Dessert Accents Candy Mold to top these gender reveal cupcakes).

Not having a baby? Not throwing a gender reveal party? These cupcakes can be customized for really any occasion or holiday. Next weekend is St. Patricks day– so how about these?