Monday, January 25, 2016

Homemade Hostess Cupcakes for SRC

Woohoooooo.  Secret Recipe Club is back!!  Well it never really went away it was just on hiatus for the holidays so my group and group C did not participate in December and groups A and B had January off.

I am very glad to be back because this was not only my first group, it was one of the main reasons I started blogging.  You see, in order to participate in SRC, you need to have at least 100 recipes for people to browse.  Then you can apply.  When I applied there was a waiting list but I soon was accepted and have been blogging happily ever after.  You can learn all about how to join us by going to the JOIN SRC page.



We are called the Secret Recipe Club because each month we are assigned to another blogger, secretly of course, and spend the month getting to know that blogger and perusing their recipes.  On reveal day we all share a recipe that we found on our secret bloggers site and prepared.  It is fun sharing your information and learning who got your blog and seeing what recipe they chose.

This month I was lucky enough to be assigned to Amy of The Fearless Homemaker.  Amy is a crafter and a cook/baker who started her blog in 2010 as a way to chronicle all of her adventures.  Amy lives in Tennessee with her husband, daughter and a rescue dog.  She has 2 degrees and is currently working as a coordinator for an au pair program.  I was a coordinator for a student exchange program so this is something that Amy and I have in common along with our love of food, reading and travel.

You should really check out her blog.  She is an amazing person and has great recipe and craft ideas, many of which include photos of her adorable daughter.  You can imagine how many recipes she has shared in 6 years.  I was so impressed!!  I ended up choosing by deciding to look for a dessert for a dinner party I was having.  This narrowed it down to about 100 choices, LOL. I spent days looking through some marvelous recipes finally narrowing it down to Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars, Raspberry and Chocolate Brownies, a Sugar and Spice Layer Cake and the recipe I finally settled upon Homemade Hostess Cupcakes.


While mine were not near as beautiful as Amy's, they were absolutely delicious.


Amy had warned that they would sink in the middle upon baking but this still worried me.
I decided to show you so you don't freak out.


Once they are completely cooled you pipe in the cream.


Top them with this lovely ganache and let it set up and harden.


Amy used leftover creme filling for her design.
I bought some cookie frosting for my design.
You can always just mix together some icing sugar and cream and make your own.

Thank you Amy.  These cupcakes were delicious and a huge hit with my guests.  While they are time intensive and a lot of steps they are relatively easy and can be made ahead of time.  

Homemade Hostess Cupcakes
slightly adapted from The Fearless Homemaker

For Cupcakes

1 1/4 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
pinch kosher salt
1 1/4 c. sugar
4 oz. baking chocolate, chopped
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs

Place sugar and 1 c. water into a saucepan over med high heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Pour into the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the chocolate and butter.  Let sit, stirring occasionally until melted and slightly cooled.  Stir in the vanilla.  Beat the eggs into the mixture and then gradually add the dry ingredients at low speed until combined.  Batter will be very thick and sticky.  Divide evenly into 24 muffin tins lined with cupcake papers, about 1/4 c. batter per cupcake.

Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center removes cleanly.  Cupcakes will be sunken in the middle. Don't panic.  Cool in the pan for 25 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

For Marshmallow Creme Filling

4 T. butter, room temperature
1 c. powdered sugar
2 t. vanilla
3 T. heavy cream
1 (7 oz) jar of Marshmallow Creme

In small bowl of stand mixer, fitted with whisk attachment, cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar until combined.  Add vanilla and heavy cream. Beat in the Marshmallow creme until until smooth, light and fluffy.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

For Ganache

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 T. butter
1/4 t. vanilla

Place chocolate in a stainless steel bowl.  Heat cream and butter in a small saucepan until nearly boiling.  Pour over chocolate and let set for 5 minutes.  Whisk until smooth and glossy then whisk in the vanilla.  Allow to cool before frosting while still remaining liquid and glossy.

To Assemble

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip, with the marshmallow cream.  Insert the tip into the center of each cupcake and fill until it feels heavier and a little of the cream is visible at the top.

Spread ganache over each cupcake filling the indentation and covering flat over the cupcake with a knife.  Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or until ganache is hardened.  

Using leftover marshmallow creme, store bought  icing or homemade icing and a pastry bag fitted with a small piping tip, create a swirly design along the top of each cupcake.  Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.  Print Recipe

Here are all of the SRC recipes this week!



31 comments:

  1. I love that this is the one you picked - I've been wanting to make the homemade hostess cupcakes forEVER! They are always one of my favorite nostalgic treats I indulge in once a year or so. Yumm!

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    1. Enjoy Rebekah, I hope yours turn out prettier than mine and taste just as good.

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  2. Hi Wendy, I'll miss you too. I've always wondered how you manage all the farm work and blogging. It seems quite a juggle. Will definitely drop in to see what you are growing new.

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  3. Oh yum! Hostess cupcakes were definitely one of my guilty pleasures growing up.

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  4. What a fun recipe! I enjoy making things at home that are normally mass produced.

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  5. Wow oh wow! What a delicious looking treat. I'm off sugar for awhile, so they are a no no for me, but man, when I get to have some sugar, this is the first recipe I'm going to make!

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    1. Kudos to you Terri for staying strong. It is a hard struggle.

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  6. That sinking would freak me out, lol! The final product looks delicious!!!

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    1. It did freak me out Karen, I nearly threw them out but then I frosted one and it looked better and then I tried one and thanked my lucky stars that I looked before I leapt.

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    2. I bet you were so happy! This usually happens to me when I wait until the last minute to do a blog post, and I know you've been going through a lot xoxo

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  7. Oh my these look like those "I can't just eat one" types of things!!

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  8. These look tasty! I've always wanted to try to make Hostess Cupcakes at home..great SRC pick!

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    1. Thanks Asiya and these are much better than the hostess cupcakes.

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  9. Amy has some FAB recipes Terri and those cakes look drop dead gorgeous too! GREAT pick! Karen

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    1. Thanks Karen, Amy does have some great recipes and so does Terri LOL but I am Wendy.

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  10. These look so amazingly decadent! Great SRC pick!

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  11. too cool that you kept blogging FOR the SRC! I think it is by far the coolest group event in the food blogosphere, so I can understand what you went through

    great job on these cupcakes, they look bakery-quality!

    Hope you had a wonderful reveal day , I am saying hi as a former Group D headed to Group A

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    1. Enjoy group A Sally, we will miss you. Especially the smack talk with Dorothy.

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  12. What a pick for SRC! I have seen similar recipes and am a bit put off by all of the steps but after hearing your rave reviews I might just have to give it a go. My husband would certainly be happy if I did. Happy Reveal day!

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  13. Wendy! I read this post first thing yesterday morning, but then got in the weeds a bit with work, so I'm just now getting a few minutes to comment. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your kind words about my blog, and how cool that you were a student exchange program coordinator, too! Small world. =) I'm glad you chose these cupcakes -- they do have a bunch of steps, but I think the finished results are so worth it. So thrilled to have had you assigned to my blog this month!

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    1. Thank you for a great recipe Amy. I don't know if you follow my blog at all but prior to being a coordinator for World Heritage I had 5 exchange students who became family. One of them, our daughter from China, never left us and has now given us our first grandchild.

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  14. Yum! I absolutely love that marshmallow creme filling. Great pick!

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  15. Love these, Wendy! That filling sounds amazing!

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