Personalized "Hostess" Cupcakes

Over the weekend I baked up these delicious cupcakes to take to my little brother and his girlfriend, as well as their friends, on our visit to their college. They are all super smarties in the College of Engineering and are killing it! All are Seniors, but will be graduating next year due to high demand in engineering classes at one of the best engineering schools in the country. 

The cupcakes are near clones of the original Hostess Cupcakes that we all know and love from our childhood. The main difference is that you can't peel off the chemical chocolate top and eat it last. This top is a deliciously rich ganache, and while different it tastes just as lovely as the original. I found the recipe for the cupcakes here. They were a bit of trouble to make, but they were worth it. I'd been putting off making them at home due to our lack of the delicious marshmallow creme, but here in the US, this deliciousness is in any grocery store. 

To be clear, if you are able to get the ingredients (marshmallow creme should be your only challenging one), I'd recommend making them. Although "a bit of trouble to make," they aren't particularly difficult, they just take a lot of steps. I broke it up over two days and it was no problem at all.

First you mix and bake up your cupcakes. Nothing tricky.

Next you make the delicious cream filling.

Then pipe the filling into the baked cupcakes and make your ganache.

The final step is to make the white frosting bit and get piping.

I followed the recipe perfectly and the only change I would make is to pipe more of the filling into the cupcake. It says not to overfill, but I think I was so concerned that something awful would happen, that I didn't fill some of them enough. Seriously, that filling is amazing. I would eat it by the spoonful if it didn't seem like I would gain 10 pounds or lose teeth (it's super sweet) in the process.

While I was piping, my best friend from the age of 0 (and a reader of this very blog) stopped by, so I of course had to make one for her. (Hi Julia!!!)

My little brother's girlfriend messaged me on Facebook to tell me that the cupcakes were delicious. Wahoo! They were given the official stamp of approval from the college kids. 

If you're looking for a sweet treat that is sure to bring lovely memories to the recipients, I wholeheartedly recommend these little guys! Delicious, nostalgic and cute to boot!