Cake Series: Filled Cupcakes

One way to make cupcakes extra special and "fancy" is to fill them.  On Food Network's Cupcake Wars, I've seen bakers scoop out part of the cupcake in order to fill them.  There is actually an easier way to do it as long as you're planning on using a filling that is capable of being piped, such as peanut butter filling or whipped ganache.

Once your cupcakes have baked, let them partially cool.  You'll want them to be slightly warm, but not hot enough to melt your filling.

While they're cooling, you can fit a piping bag with decorating tip #230.  Fill the piping bag with your desired filling; fold the top of the bag or close it with a rubber band to keep the filling from squirting out the top of the bag as you're squeezing.  Insert the tip of the piping bag into the center of a cupcake and squirt until you notice filling starting to ooze out of the top of the cupcake.  If you'd like a lot of filling, you can squirt the filling into 2-3 holes in the center of the cupcake, but I've found I usually prefer just 1, especially if the filling is rich.  Once the cupcake is frosted, you won't even be able to tell there's a hole in the top of the cupcake, but people will get a nice surprise when they bite into it!

Note: for a while, I was afraid that if I put the chocolate chips into my favorite cake recipe, I wouldn't be able to fill the cupcakes.  However, the texture of the chocolate chips add so much to the cake, so I tried leaving the chocolate chips in the cupcakes and filled them...and it worked!