Maryknoll Community Center Construction Wall

Professional photographer Geralyn Camarillo of Hokuli'i Images did a fun post on her blog entitled Skittles Sunday where she and friends took pictures before a colorful "construction" wall in front of the upcoming Maryknoll Community Center. I thought it was such a neat idea that I went to check it out. Les called me while I was driving there to say that she had cupcakes for me. She was near the area of the wall, so I asked her to meet me there. Unfortunately, about half of the wall is now down, but we did get to take these few shots. Here's one of the cupcakes that Les made. It's sooo ono that I ate TWO! AAAAAGGGRRRR!

It has a creamy filling!

The recipe is from Les. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes (Leslie's version)
(courtesy of the Cake Doctor)

FILLING AND FROSTING:
1 pkg (3.4 oz) "cook and serve" chocolate pudding mix
2 cups whole milk
1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used dark)
2T butter
1tsp pure vanilla extract

CUPCAKES:
24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2 1/2 inch size)
1 pkg (18.25 oz) plain devil's food cake mix
3 T Dutch process unsweetened cocoa powder (I couldn't find Dutch, but I did find Hershey's Dutch blended cocoa)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Prepare the filling and frosting: Place the pudding mix and milk in a 2 QT saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, 4-5 mins. Turn off the heat. Add the chocolate chips, butter, and vanilla and stir until the butter and chocolate chips melt, 2 mins. Remove the pan from the heat and cover the pudding w/plastic wrap placed right on its surface (don't burn yourself like I did!). Let it cool for 45 min at room temp.

2. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350.

3. Prepare the cupcake batter: Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside. Place the cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 3 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Spoon or scoop a heaping 1/4 C batter into each lined cup, filling it 2/3 of the way full (You will get 24 cupcakes). Place pans in the oven

4. Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 17-20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Remove 4 cupcakes from the pan and crumble them into a bowl to make coarse crumbs (I used a large grater and lightly rubbed it against it to get my crumbs). Run a dinner knive around the edges of the remaining cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the ends of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before filling. Note: I didn't do this because 1, I didn't wanna burn my fingers AGAIN, and 2, also I'm not that patient (note from jalna: understatement) to delicately handle them like that! Oh, plus I was lazy!

5. Divide the filling and frosting into two portions. Fit a pastry bag with a large round tip and spoon 1 cup of the filling portion into the bag. Gently push the tip into the center of each cupcake and squirt a generous amount of pudding inside. Refill the bag as needed and repeat for all 20 cupcakes. Note: I couldn't find my large tip so I used my turkey baster to poke a hole in the top of the cupcake, then I filled it in from there.

6. Place a heaping tablespoon of the remaining pudding portion on each cupcake and spread it out with the back of a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Top the frosting with a sprinkling of cupcake crumbs, pressing them down so they stick. The cupcakes are ready to serve.

** store these cupcakes, in a cake saver, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or freeze them, wrapped in aluminum foil or in cake saver, for up to six months. thaw the cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator before serving

Who the heck stores cupcakes??? If it was me, I would gobble them up and I wouldn't have any leftovers! :P