Easy Boston Creme Cupcakes

boston creme cupcakes

If you follow a lot of mom bloggers, or even just a few, you’ll begin to see a trend towards glorifying the hot mess . Sure, there are still people on social media pedaling perfection. You’ll still find moms with perfectly dressed kids, in their perfectly clean homes with their perfectly perfect outfit and bodies and lives. This still happens. 

But for the most part what you’ll find is a lot of moms on social media claiming the Hot Mess Express and holding tight to it. Furthermore, if you read very closely, even the perfect ones, the ones whose pictures make you swoon with their spotless white kitchens and kids who wear clothes suspiciously devoid of super hero characters or dri-fit material, claim the hot mess. They make a point of telling you that behind the scenes there was a meltdown and dirty dishes in the sink and a fight with their husband about putting the toilet seat down. You know, to relate to us common folk with dirty kitchens, dark wood cabinets, husbands who refuse to take constant IG worthy pictures and kids who don’t match their socks.

boston creme cupcake

If you follow me over on any social media (which you should because I’m totes fun) you’ll see it. I am not the perfect perfect hot mess poster. No. I’m way too lazy and my life is way too real for any perfection. There is not one IG worthy corner of my house, my kids are usually wearing something ridiculous and I own a wardrobe consisting almost exclusively of tee shirts and jeans. So it’s not a light-filtered visual wonderland over on BurntToast’s IG. But it is a real real hot mess expose.

This week I pulled a particularly bonehead move. I have been running and running and running, trying to wrap up the school year for my kids and fit in every last personal appointment and work project I can before they’re home with me on the 24/7. Needless to say, it’s been a lot and I’ve been a bit distracted. So when I went to get my hair did, checked out and bought some product I should have known better than to smugly assure my girl (because hairdresser sounds like an 80 year old lady word) that I didn’t need a bag, I had it all under control. No chance on earth I would walk out without my product because it was right in front of my face and I’m way too together to forget something I just bought.

Except that I’m not. And I did. I walked right out of that salon without the product. 

Which, in the grand scheme of things is not a big deal, right? I go back, pick it up, no harm no foul. But I also, later that day, went to Target specifically to get bread (of which we had none) and walked out with everything but bread. And then later that day I picked up one kid from school but forgot the other.

And while I don’t generally get my feathers too ruffled when I make mistakes like this, I was a little “Get your head in the game, Meg,” and realized it’s pretty much three-strikes-you’re-out when it comes to absentmindeness. It was time I got my stuff together. So I did what any good blogger in her right mind would do, I took to IG with a selfie to tell everyone the story and give some encouragement. Because this is the 2010’s, y’all, and we preach in different ways.

I’m not sure why, though, that I’m so quick to try to be relatable with my hot mess posts. We all do it. It’s like we’re so intent on pointing  out our faults and we want so badly to show everyone (and I mean everyone) we’re not perfect that we have swung the pendulum completely in the opposite direction. We (meaning me) are so busy telling everyone our mess-ups, showing the world our brokeness and being completely vulnerable with our weakness that somehow we’ve glossed over the fact that we’re actually pretty strong too.

Because that day, the day I walked out of the salon without my product and accidentally forgot to pick up a kid, I also managed to keep three wild children fed, bathed and relatively assured that they are loved. I balanced three (yes three) jobs and passion projects while also simultaneously closing out a baseball season, registering my son for camp and tackling the laundry. I also walked the dog, cleaned up the dishes, talked to a financial adviser (oh how I wish you were a fly on the wall for that funny conversation) and managed to make a moderately healthy dinner that 3 out of the 4 other members of my family ate.

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Ladies…..I’ve been thinking about this for a bit and I think it’s time I put on my wise old lady pants and give us all a stern lecture. We’ve got to knock this s$$t off. Yes, vulnerability is a great thing. Yes, trying to prove our perfection and Pinterest-worthy-ness is exhausting, awful and bad for the environment. And YES, it’s time we just let everyone know that it’s ok to be real and human and make mistakes and fall down and pick yourself back up again. Thus is life.

But ladies, we’re capable too. No, scratch that, we’re damn near super heroes. The number of things we juggle on the daily is mind altering. It really is. I don’t even know you, not really, but I can bet you rocked about 30 things on your to-do list today and some of them involved keeping another human being alive (and I mean this literally). On the whole, ladies, we’re an impressive bunch. Whether we work or stay home. Whether we’ve got one kid or multiples or none. We truly do, in every sense but the literal (which don’t even get me started on this one) run the world. 

So why are we so intent on showing the world that we don’t?

I am not in any way saying that we shouldn’t be showing the world our vulnerable side. Or sharing the real real of life. I think that’s valuable. But damnit, I think it’s time we started showing our capable one too. Guys. I make a lot of mistakes. There’s a ton going on in my life and my to-do list is 8000 miles long. It’s a given I’m going to forget a thing or two (sorry, Connor). But it’s also just as much of a given that I will totally rock twice as many things as I fail. And I want to OWN that for y’all. Not in a prideful way, because I know somewhere deep inside (like how I know me and Jennifer Aniston are destined to be BFF’s deep), that you’re rocking your life too.

Ladies, let’s take a collective vow to showcase our capable side just as much as our hot mess. Not like a marytr (I’ve got that one covered). Not like Martha Stewart. Like you. At your very best. Show it off. The world needs to see more women owning both sides of her coin. Sure, we’re all a little bit hot mess express. But we’re also a lot wonder woman. And we want to see you owning both. boston creme cupcake click to tweet

So I’m going to own today’s recipe and tell you that if you invite me to a cookout or a barbecue, I’m going to bring some food. I’m going to give it my all. And it’s probably going to be good. I don’t want to show you up. It’s not my intention to be that person. I just want to bring you food and I want it to be good and that’s my thing. So let me own it and eat the dang cupcakes already.

The only thing my son wanted for his 12th birthday (other than some ridiculously ugly shoes called Yeezys) was a Boston Creme Cake. And while I love me a good cake, making one has never been my jam. The whole stacking and frosting thing is way out of my league. But a cupcake, yeah, I’ve got that. So these little cupcakes were born and let me tell you. They’re RIDIC. 

I’m never one to urge you to go the boxed cake route, but in the interest of easy, this time I will. I just want you to jazz it up a bit. So here’s the deal….whatever kind you buy you’re going to have to do some figuring. Sub in butter for the oil. Sub in milk for the water. And add one extra egg to the mix. It makes your boxed cake less box cake-y and these cupcakes soar. The pudding, boxed too. You don’t need to fancy this up, but be sure to use a teaspoon to hollow out the center before piping it into the cupcakes so you can get a good bit of pudding in.

And for heaven’s sake…don’t skimp on the ganache. It makes the world go round. I promise.

Alright friends, I know this one was preachy. I’m sorry I got a little soap-boxy. I just really want you to own your capable just as much as you own your hot mess. I really do. Because I know you. And you, my dear, are amazing.

Peace, love and super hero capes,

Meg

Easy Boston Creme Cupcakes

May 26, 2020

By:

Ingredients
  • 1 Boxed Yellow Cake Mix
  • Milk (subbed in for water)
  • Melted Butter (subbed in for oil)
  • Egg (add one egg to the recipe)
  • 2 boxes vanilla pudding mix prepared per package instructions
  • 1 12 ounce package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of sea salt
Directions
  • Step 1 Using the substitutions, prepare the cupcakes and set on a wire rack to cool.
  • Step 2 While they’re cooling, prepare the vanilla pudding.
  • Step 3 Using a teaspoon, scoop out a hole in the center of each cupcake, being sure not to go completely through to the bottom.
  • Step 4 Scoop pudding into a piping bag (or just use a spoon) and fill each cupcake with until flush with the top.
  • Step 5 Cover loosely and chill in the fridge for an hour.
  • Step 6 To prepare the ganache, microwave the chocolate chips for 1 minute, stir. Microwave for 1 more minute or until completely melted.
  • Step 7 Add whipping cream, vanilla and salt. Stir until silky.
  • Step 8 Let cool for 10-15 minutes.
  • Step 9 Using a spoon or a knife, top each cupcake with a generous scoop of ganache. (there will be extra which is amazing consumed via spoon at 2 am)
  • Step 10 Chill cupcakes for 2-3 hours prior to serving. Ganache with harden as it chills.