O-R-E-O!

I wanted to make some goodies for our family reunion this year and after recommending these to a girlfriend of mine I decided to play a bit with filled cupcakes. Joseph loves oreos so I thought I could play with that concept and create a cute cupcake.

I used a Williams-Sonoma recipe for Devils Food cupcakes and a frosting/filling recipe from a blogger I stumbled upon through a Google search. The cupcakes were moist and definitely tasted oreo-like. My family members couldn't get enough. The littlest ones were enjoying more than their fair share. In less than 1 minute my 3 year old cousin had his cupcake eaten (no crumbs left)! My older cousins had to quickly snatch a few for themselves.

Source: Williams-Sonoma Cakes and The Bumbling Baker




Devil's Food Cake

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pan.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the brown sugar and continue beating until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour, beating after each addition.

Divide the batter between the prepared liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, 19 to 24 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Let the cupcakes cake cool completely before filling and frosting.

Frosting/Filling

• 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
• 2 tbsps. icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup Oreo cookie crumbs (I omitted and just used the Oreo's to top the cupcakes)
  

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff.

Gently fold in the cookie crumbs. (I omitted)

Scoop 1/2 of the mixture into a piping bag, and using a Bismarck tip, inject filling into each cupcake by sticking the tip into the middle of the cupcake and squeezing a bit. (I used my Decorator Bottles and star tip from Pampered Chef).

Frost the cupcakes with the other 1/2 of the frosting and top with 1/2 of an oreo.

A little army of cupcakes ready to take on the world:


The inside:


My cute little decorator bottle from Pampered Chef: