Homemade Hostess Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 dark chocolate cake mix (+ cake mix ingredients)

White gooey filling:
4 TBSP butter, room temperature
1 c powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 TBSP heavy cream
1 cup marshmallow creme

Chocolate ganache:
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c heavy cream
1 TBSP butter
2 tsp vanilla

White frosting (for squigglies/words):

1 stick butter
2 TBSP milk
2 c powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

Prepare cupcakes as directed on back of dark chocolate cake mix (using cupcake papers). Allow to cool.

For the filling: Using a mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon heavy cream; beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons heavy cream in batches, alternating after each addition. Beat in the marshmallow creme; set aside or refrigerate.

For the ganache: Place the chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl. Heat the cream and 1 tablespoon butter until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate; let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla; let stand until cool but still glossy and liquid.

Now that your ganache is cooling, spoon white gooey filling into an icing bag with a star tip attached (or a freezer bag with a star tip, if you're like me!). Poke star tip through the top center of the cupcake, then squeeze until the cupcake gets heavier. If extra white stuff pools at the top, scrape it off with a knife. (You want the tops to be smooth.)

Once ganache is cooled but still glossy, dip tops of cupcakes into ganache. If desired, dip more than once for thicker chocolate layer. Cool in fridge.

For the icing: Using a mixer, beat the remaining 1 stick butter, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, the milk and confectioners sugar until smooth, adding more milk if needed. Spoon into a pastry bag with a small tip. Pipe onto the cupcakes to decorate. (This recipe makes LOTS of icing. You can always freeze the rest and use it on the next batch!)

Makes about 24 cupcakes.

Refrigerate any leftovers (if you have any!).

Comments from the cook: I'd seen these beauties before, and knew that they would be a wonderful treat when our families were both in town right before Valentine's day. So I set out to make them...

And, I don't know WHAT happened, but the cupcake recipe on the site listed below did NOT work for me. In fact, the result was a horrific mess in my oven, a waste of 24 suuuuper cute cupcake papers (biggest tragedy), and a somewhat traumatic memory. :)

But that's what cake mixes are for! And, for the record, the dark chocolate cake mix made for amazing finished cupcakes. Easy peasy...and no mess!

After completing the cupcakes (icing and all), I removed the cupcake papers. The ganache I made was somewhat runny, and ran down the sides of many of the cupcakes. They looked a LOT better sans papers. But, just so you know... removing the papers will make the cupcakes more prone to drying out if you plan to store them for a while.

These were fun to make, and the taste? OUT OF THIS WORLD.

Originally found here. Most text taken from the same site.

Bowtie Chicken Caesar Salad

1-2 servings farfalle (bowtie) pasta, prepared as directed
1 pkg chicken breast pieces, plain
1 medium tomato, diced
mozzarella cheese, grated
lettuce
croutons
caesar dressing

Prepare pasta as directed. Rinse with cold water until pasta is cool to the touch. Drain.

Wash, dry, then tear lettuce. Dice tomato and grate cheese.

Cut chicken into smaller pieces if desired. (The pre-packaged kind usually comes in fairly large strips, so we generally cut them down into smaller bite-sized chunks.)

Assemble and top with caesar dressing of your choice.

Comments from the cook: This is one of our warm-weather recipes of choice! When we were still in UT, my co-workers and I frequented a place called Pizza Factory for office birthdays. This was my favorite dish there (served with their classic bread-twist). When we moved, I realized that I could re-create it fairly easily.

No fancy ingredients and no extensive preparation required. You can dry your own croutons, whip up your own caesar dressing, and grow your own lettuce if you really want to...but this one's an easy summer meal that you should really try. We usually use romaine lettuce, but only had iceberg around. Would be tasty with spinach leaves tossed in as well.

If you're trying to save a few pennies (packaged chicken is usually about $2.50), use an old-fashioned frozen chicken breast and prep your own chicken pieces in a skillet. Add a bit of salad dressing right before they're done browning for extra flavor.

A CookieSheets&CakePans original...kinda. :)