Clearly I make a lot of cupcakes; adorable, portable and always a crowd favorite, another reason to love cupcakes is that they are pretty simple to bake and decorate. I’m kind of lacking in the patience department, so it’s much easier for me to pipe frosting onto a cupcake than onto a full-size cake.
I’ve also become a big fan of filling my cupcakes with a little somethin’-somethin’. Whether it’s lemon curd, ganache or chocolate chip cookie dough, people (and I) really enjoy biting into a surprise center.
I’ve filled a lot of cupcakes and have tried a bunch of methods for achieving that perfectly filled center. I find that actually removing a piece from the center of the cake rather than using a filling tip without removing any cake actually works better. After hollowing an absolute ton of cupcakes with a paring knife, I knew there had to be an easier way and trust me, there is.
If you are an apple lover, you may already have this little tool in your gadget drawer. A basic apple corer does a fabulous job hollowing out the cupcake evenly and with a perfect cylinder hole for filling. Those of us that are OCD and require perfect circles in our life will especially appreciate this. Those of you that aren’t, appreciate it anyway! Oh, and no need to point out my extremely pale fingers. I’m fully aware that I am on the verge of blending in with the white board!
Essential Product Info
OXO Apple Corer available through Amazon and many retail stores.
How To
- Gently push the apple corer into the center of your cupcake, rotate the corer slightly and pull the corer out of the cupcake.
- Push the small cake round out of the corer and repeat this process with all the cupcakes. Be sure not to go all the way down to the bottom of the cupcake, this can cause your filling to seep through the liner.
- Once your cupcakes have been hollowed, pipe in your favorite filling and top with your favorite frosting.
Abigail Wenderson
Tuesday 4th of August 2020
Wow, i was always fail to fill cupcake properly, your content let me know where I'm making the mistake. Going to try this filling today.
Jamie
Sunday 9th of August 2020
Thanks so much for stopping by, Abigail! I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Happy Baking! -Jamie
Ravonda
Friday 10th of March 2017
Update after searching online: looks like the cupcakes with the custard filling baked in that I remembered were a Pillsbury product called Pudding Pockets.
Jamie
Monday 13th of March 2017
Sounds amazing, Ravonda! Thank you for your thoughts!
Ravonda
Friday 10th of March 2017
Love your site and recipes. I haven't tried anything that didn't work well for me. I have a fun challenge for you: I remember a cupcake mix that was available for a few years and discontinued (late '80's maybe) that had a vanilla custard filling baked inside (Boston Cream Pie style), rather than piped in after. You prepared the cupcake batter and the custard batter, then assembled by spooning in some batter, then a spoon of custard, and topping with more batter. There was also a packet including for a chocolate glaze. They were great and seemed less messy and time consuming. These days I always bake from scratch, but wonder if a recipe like this could be developed. Seems baking wouldn't hurt a custard - maybe the consistencies of cupcake batter and custard might need tweaking
RHONDA
Friday 10th of June 2016
I used a knife the first time I filled. This time I'll use the apple corer. I am making yellow cupcakes filled with chocolate fudge, like you use for ice cream, and topped with whipped peanut butter buttercream frosting.
Jamie
Monday 13th of June 2016
Your cupcakes sound great, Rhonda! I hope it all goes well!
Rose
Thursday 30th of October 2014
Love the idea of the apple corer to set the stage for a filling. My question is..what kind of fillings? Can you use regular icing -like cream cheese icing? Also, can this be done a day after the muffins have been baked? You can tell I'm a novice at this....
Jamie
Friday 31st of October 2014
Rose- You can fill the cupcakes with anything you like. Any icing, fruit filling, pudding. Also you should be fine to fill them the next day after baking. I hope this helps.
-Jamie