It feels like ages since we’ve posted for the Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes Club but we’re back and this month we baked jumbo cream-filled chocolate cupcakes! The recipe was selected by Jess of Cookbook Habit, a fellow New England blogger and one of the wittiest ladies I know! We don’t post recipes for this group so you won’t find it on Jess’s site, but I still encourage you to drop by and say hi 🙂 If you’d like to try the cupcakes, you can find the recipe on page 133 of Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes or here on Martha’s website.
As their name implies, these cupcakes are huge! They’re baked in a jumbo muffin tin and although I don’t remember when or why I bought one, it is among the pans hanging out in my basement. The recipe makes 12 jumbo cupcakes, but as usual, I scaled back to make just 1/3 of the recipe. I only got 3 cupcakes, but that was plenty because seriously, each cupcake was giant! In fact, I couldn’t get over the size and to demonstrate the scale I pulled a “regular” sized cupcake from my freezer and photographed it next to the ones from this recipe.
The cupcakes get their flavor from cocoa powder and also incorporate sour cream, which makes them just the tiniest bit tangy. This was probably one of the only times I’ve baked cupcakes without liners, but I didn’t have jumbo liners and fortunately, they released easily from the well-greased pan. The filling for the cupcakes was just two ingredients – a combination of butter and marshmallow creme. I knew it was going to be trouble though when the instructions wanted me to whisk the two of them together. Marshmallow creme is sticky stuff and as I suspected, it was not easy to whisk. I had to stop and scrape the fluff from the whisk more times than I’d like to admit. To fill them, you cut a small piece from the center of the bottom of each cupcake using a melon baller. I found it easiest to scoop out a small piece of the cupcake using the melon baller then switch to a paring knife to hollow out the center a bit more. The bit of cupcake is reserved and plugs the hole after you fill it with the cream/butter combo.
After dinner last night Shane and I split one of the cupcakes for dessert. I think we agreed that they were good, but not great. The cake was tasty and tender but just a bit on the dry side. For me, there was just too much cake in relation to the amount of cream filling. Shane thought the sides of the cupcakes were too crisp, but I liked them that way. The filling had a really buttery flavor and while we enjoyed it in the cupcakes, I just found it too difficult to work with. If I were to make these cupcakes again, I’d make them in standard sized muffin tins and probably make a marshmallow icing from scratch. If you really wanted them to be more like Hostess cupcakes you could add a chocolate glaze to the top too.
Thanks to Jess for hosting this week! Next month we’re making tres leches cupcakes and they’ve been on my to-do list for ages so I’m really looking forward to it!
This is how I love cupcakes!
Perfect dessert for any time. Love that cream in the centre.
You are too sweet! And wow, those things are huge. I made mine regular size, so I had no idea…but I agree, that is a splitting dessert (and I don’t usually like to split). Your jumbo cakes look like the ones in the book, unlike mine!
I also think these would be better with more filling and a tastier cake recipe.
Thanks for baking along with me this month!
Love the huge cupcakes! Awesome!
I give you a high five for making them. I wasn’t in the baking mood and I didn’t have everything I needed anyhow. Plus, I would have HAD to go out and add yet another pan to my collection. HAD. Because I have no self-restraint.
Your GINORMOUS cuppies (is that an oxymoron? ha!) look so great!! Too bad they were a bit dry.
These were huge!! And one was more than enuff for two people.
sorry yours were dry. I expected mine to be, but I baked them a few minutes less (oven unregulate) and they came out fine.
But they look perfect!!
Yours are so pretty. I really liked them, but I made a lot of changes.
I thought the same thing – the cake was dry and the cream was really hard to work with!
wow looks great! I pulled my cupcakes out a few minutes early and they came out fine..but of course now they’ve sitting on my kitchen table for a day now. =]
Hi Tracey,
Totally agree, didn’t love these. They were pretty dry. I thought the marshmallow filling was the best part. I did mine regular sized. Wow! The real recipe makes them super-sized! Love the side by side pic. you added of regular vs. enormous!
They look huge and remind me so much of the lunch box cupcakes of my youth. Your marshmallow is bound to be much tastier than the jarred stuff!
Great pictures…I think you are one of the few who actually had the jumbo pan!
Good comments – I have a feeling a jumbo would just be too darned BIG! But yours are adorable, even not mini-sized 🙂
Oh yeah! Does that ever look good. I am drooling here…although I just had dinner!
Good honest analysis of the recipe. How refreshing!
Great looking cupcakes! It seems like most people thought the cupcakes were so so, but I really liked them. Martha’s book is such a hit and miss. Hopefully next month will do you better!
Your cupcakes look beautiful! I thought these were dry also.
I am looking forward to the Tres Leches recipe, too!
I think we had pretty similar reviews. Mainly, the jumbo cupcake was just too big. YOurs look beautiful. Great job!
I love you photos. Very crisp and clear. The cuppies look great, too. Lovely job!
i’m loving this delicate little drizzle you added to the top. looks great! how fun that they’re GINORMOUS.
Wow…I had gone with standard cupcakes and totally forgotten how huge jumbo cupcakes were. Despite the challenges I know you faced, these do look great!
Your cupcakes turned out beautifully!
While not the tastiest cupcakes you’ve ever made, these were good and I’m bummed that they’re all gone!
wow those ARE huge!! i made hostess type cakes before, they were a big hit 🙂
Wow, those are jumbo size, it was fun to see the photo of it next to a regular sized one. These were a big hit here with the guys, so I will be making them again. Wait until they see the photo of your jumbo ones!
I really need a jumbo pan. I’d love to see the look on my husband’s face if I gave him a cupcake that big, lol. I agree that they were a bit dry and the marshmallow filling was hard to work with. I’ve loved most of the recipes I’ve tried from the book, so I had high expections. I like the idea of these cupakes but the actual recipe needs some tweaking.
I bought jumbo pans especially for these, but didn’t use them – used mini’s instead (go figure). I’ve still yet to post them, they turned out horribly…. but these 3 cupcakes look GREAT! Mine fell like bricks… yours are so nice and tall (I agree though – the cake was rather “so-so… and dry”)!
Yum yum! The bigger, the better!
I have the book, but haven’t really made anything with it!!
How did you get the heart on the top?
I tried to do this recipe but my cup cakes sink. Please Can you help me?