Recipe: Surprise Gluten-Free Cupcakes

My son came home from school the other day and informed me that he had an idea for a dessert in his head and he wanted to make it. He described it as being like a Twinkie, but not quite and of course gluten-free. He browsed through the pantry and pulled out a yellow cake mix and chocolate frosting.

After brainstorming for a few minutes, we decided to make cupcakes and then use an apple corer to make a hole to stuff the frosting in. This recipe is simple, but a touch time consuming. My son wouldn’t know that because he abandoned the process after completing one cupcake and promptly inhaling it.  Aaron finished up the work.

Ingredients

• 1 box yellow cake mix – Betty Crocker gluten-free worked great
• 1 can of chocolate frosting – Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Chocolate was what we had on hand
• eggs
• butter (softened)
• vanilla
• water

Directions

Follow the directions on the back of the cake mix box for the cupcakes.  Do not use cupcake liners, but make sure to spray your pan with cooking spray.  Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before attempting to fill them.

Once they are cool, gently use the apple corer (or another suitable tool) to remove a portion of the cupcake. My son’s first attempt went in through the bottom; Aaron found that the side worked better and allowed for better dispersion of the frosting.  Once you have extracted the “core” of the cake, don’t be so quick to eat it – save a tiny bit to plug up the hole after the frosting is inserted into the cupcake.  See the process in the pictures below.

Finish off the cupcakes by frosting the tops.

The kids could not get enough of these cupcakes! My son had 3 and we had to cut him off!  Hannah loved them as well.  These are the perfect treat to WOW your inner child or your actual child.