Hostess Cupcakes - Gender Reveal

Yield - 36 cupcakes

Adapted from Hostess Cupcakes

Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups water

1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate

3 teaspoons vanilla

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons flour

3 teaspoons baking soda

3 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ˚F and line cupcake tins with papers.
2. In a small saucepan bring the water and the sugar to a boil.  Pour sugar/water into the bowl for your stand mixer and add the butter and chocolate.  Stir to melt and let cool slightly.  Stir in the vanilla.
3. Place the mixing bowl on the mixer and mix on low speed.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat to combine.  Scrape the bowl as needed.
4. Sift together the flour, soda, powder, and salt onto wax paper.  Add to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Use a standard size ice cream scoop to portion the batter into the cupcake cups.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

3 teaspoons vanilla

4 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme

pink and/or blue gel food coloring

8. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for two minutes.  Add in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons cream, pinch of salt, and vanilla.  Beat on low speed to combine.
9. Add in the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 1/2 tablespoons of creams in alternating increments on a slow speed.  Add in the marshmallow cream and beat on high until the mixture is well combined.
10. If the baby is a boy, color the filling blue, if the baby is a girl, color the filling pink.  If the mother is having twins of two genders, divide the filling into two different bowls and color one pink and one blue.
11. Add the marshmallow filling to a piping bag with an injection tip.  Poke each cupcake in the center and squeeze until the top of the cupcake begins to rise.
12. If there is a lot of filling poking out, scrape it off.

Ganache

9 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

pinch of salt

3 teaspoons vanilla

13. Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.
14. Bring the cream, butter, and salt to a simmer in a small saucepan.  Add the hot cream to the chocolate and leave the mixture alone for 5 minutes.
15. Whisk the chocolate and the cream together and set aside to cool.  Stir every ten or so minutes to keep the ganache from setting.
16. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of ganache on top of each filled cupcake and use the back of the spoon to smooth the ganache.

Piped Topping

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

17. Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with a paddle attachment on low until well combined.  Turn up the speed and beat for 1 minutes, scrape the bowl as needed.  
18. If the mixture seems too thick, add some more cream.
19. Add the piping frosting to a piping bag with a number 2 tip.  Pipe a “?” on each cupcake if there is one baby, “A” or “B” if there are twins.