Surprise Cupcakes

My original idea for these surprise cupcakes was to make a hostess-like cupcake at home. But then after making the filling, I realized that I had way too much of it and I didn't want to waste it. So, instead of making a ganache for the topping, I added a couple of baker's chocolate squares to the filling and made my frosting. I still decorated them to look like hostess cupcakes and they sure do taste yummy!! But the surprise about these cupcakes is not that they are filled with a creamy center. It's that they are made with yellow squash puree!! So, if you've got lots of yellow squash in your garden, I highly recommend pureeing some of it and making these super moist cupcakes! Your family will have no idea that these are made with some of your garden vegetables!! You could even try making these with zucchini puree if you don't have any yellow squash, I'm sure they will still turn out delectable!


Surprise Cupcakes

1box devil's food cake mix
1 cup yellow squash puree
½ cup water
¼ cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
½ cup plain yogurt (I used fat free Greek)

filling & frosting

½ cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
½ cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 squares bittersweet baking chocolate, melted (for the frosting)

Preheat oven to 350° F.
To make the cupcake batter, mix together the cake mix, squash puree, water and vegetable oil. Mix until combined and then add the eggs, mixing between each addition. Finally add the yogurt and mix until the batter is light and fluffy. Pour batter into paper-lined cupcake pans, filling to 2/3 full and bake according to cake mix directions, about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once done baking, remove from oven and let sit in pans for ten minutes. Then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make the filling, beat together the butter and cream cheese until soft. Add powdered sugar, being sure to add a little at a time, until combined. Add milk and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, put about 1 ½ cups of the filling into a pastry bag with a medium sized tip. Pipe the filling into the cupcakes, going in through the tops of the cupcakes and filling until you can't put anymore in. It will be about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of filling per cupcake. Once all of the cupcakes are filled, reserve some of the white frosting to decorate the tops of the cupcakes, about 1 cup. With the remaining frosting, melt the baking chocolate in the microwave, according to the package directions. Mix the chocolate into the frosting and beat until well combined. Frost the cupcakes with the chocolate frosting and then take the reserved white frosting and decorate the tops of the cupcakes with a swirly design, using a small tip or putting into a small ziploc bad and then cutting a small hole in the tip. Refrigerate the cupcakes for at least an hour before enjoying for best taste. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Here's tip, if you don't have a pastry bag and medium sized tip to fill the cupcakes, make a hole in the top of each cupcake with the end of a wooden spoon and then place the filling inside of a Ziploc bag and cut the tip off of the bag. Then use the bag to pipe the frosting into the hole to fill the cupcakes. This is what I had to do because I couldn't find my tips. Also, to make the design on the top of the cupcakes, simply make a smaller cut in the tip of the bag and pipe on the top of the cupcakes! Enjoy!