My story in recipes: Cream Filled Cupcakes

I am fairly certain that I was in college when I had my first hostess cupcake. I had heard my friends talk about them as if they were a magnificently delicious treat but it wasn't something that my mom ever kept in the house so I didn't really have access to them until I moved away to college. As it turned out - I really wasn't missing out on anything. What I thought was going to be a tasty treat turned out to be a big disappointment.

Even though I didn't like the hostess cupcake, I still like the idea of a moist, chocolaty cupcake filled with a pillowy, soft, buttery marshmallow cream. (Who wouldn't?) I found the idea for these cupcakes on Martha Stewart.com and I took her idea and ran with it. I wanted to keep the frosting on these little treats to a minimum because really - most of the sweet frosting is in the middle of the cupcake.

Cream Filled Cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
7 ounces marshmallow creme
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Butter two 6-cup (each with a 1-cup capacity) jumbo muffin pans; dust with cocoa powder to coat, tapping out excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

On low speed, add half the flour mixture, followed by sour cream, ending with remaining flour mixture; mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Cool in pans, 5 minutes; remove cupcakes and cool, right side up, on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, prepare filling: In a medium bowl, whisk marshmallow creme and butter until smooth. Chill until slightly firm, 15 to 30 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, and seal; cut off one corner of the bag to make a 1/8-inch opening. Using a small melon baller, scoop out center of each cupcake from the bottom, and reserve (you will use this to plug cupcake after filling). Hollow out each cupcake a bit more, discarding crumbs.