A couple weeks ago my mother came to visit.  When she does, junk food pours into my house.  She escorts the kids to our local Walmart and let’s them pick out snacks to their hearts’ content.  For a seven and nine year old, this is Heaven.

When I came home I found a box of knock off renditions to the classic Hostess chocolate cupcakes.    My daughter was beyond thrilled and shrieked “I love these things.”  She quickly divided out the batch to ensure she received the majority.

As I look through the cellophane, I remembered I loved them too when I was younger.  Through my adult eyes the cake looked dry, the frosting waxy and the swirl painted on the top.  In hopes of sparking a new love, I created my own version.

This uses my favorite chocolate cake recipe (which you could use a box for convenience.)  I baked it without cupcake liners to replicate the original.  If you want my advice, do it in the cupcake papers.  It makes it so much easier to pop out and handle.

Next is the filling.  I whipped up some cream to make a whipped cream frosting.  Put the frosting in a piping bag with a star tip.  The star tip helps cutting into the cake when you push the tip down on the top of the cupcake.  Be careful when squeezing in the frosting that it doesn’t explode out the side.

Put the cupcake in the refrigerator while you melt some chocolate ganache.  Dip your chilled cupcake in the melted chocolate and then put back in the refrigerator before using some leftover frosting to pipe the squiggle on the top.

I know pictures would’ve been helpful, but I wasn’t planning on a tutorial at the time.  I did however want to show the difference between the two.

Next to each other I think the choice is clear.  With adult eyes or kid eyes, the one without the commercial packing looks like the thing I’d rather scarf down.