Boston Cream Cupcakes

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on Last updated

5 Comments

12 Servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
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Boston Cream Cupcakes are made with tender, classic yellow cakes topped off with a chocolate glaze and filled with vanilla cream just like Boston Cream Pie!

These delicious cupcakes are the perfect fun Dessert Recipe to serve for a party or bring to a bake sale. Everyone is sure to love them, and the vanilla pastry cream filling will be a wonderful and delicious surprise to anyone who takes a bite expecting a regular Vanilla Cupcake. 

Boston Cream Cupcakes vanilla cupcake with bite exposing cream filling and chocolate ganache frosting

BOSTON CREAM CUPCAKES

Boston Cream Pie is a classic American dessert. Usually, they’re made with a large butter cake filled with custard and topped with beautiful Chocolate Ganache. For this recipe, we’ve taken the same classic chocolate and vanilla flavors and baked them into adorable cupcakes perfect to share with a crowd. Unlike the classic pie, there is no need to slice the recipe into pieces, just serve everyone their own cupcake!

Boston Cream Cupcakes vanilla cupcakes with bowl of custard filling

Between the vanilla cake, creme filling, and glaze, it might seem like a complicated recipe. However, even beginning bakers can make Boston Cream Cupcakes! The cake is just made with regular vanilla cupcake batter. Then the filling and chocolate glaze are made with a few easy ingredients in minutes. Once it’s all combined you’ll have the perfect sweet and creamy Boston Cream Cupcakes ready to go. 

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Boston Cream Cupcakes vanilla cupcakes with piping bag adding filling

BAKING TIPS

  • Prep time: To start the recipe, preheat the oven and line each muffin cup with paper liners.
  • Cupcake batter: Add the softened butter and granulated sugar to your stand mixer. Beat the mixture at medium speed for about 1 minute, until they’re light and fluffy. Then add the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Stir the batter until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix the ingredients until the vanilla cake batter is just combined.
  • Baking time: Scoop the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners so that each one is 2/3 full. You can use an ice cream scoop to easily get even-sized scoops. Put the muffin tin in the preheated oven to bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick or butter knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cupcakes cool on a wire rack while you make the silky vanilla custard filling. 
  • Vanilla custard: Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to combine the instant pudding mix, milk, and heavy whipping cream. Continue beating the mixture for 3-4 minutes until creamy. After you prep the pudding mixture, let it sit for 5 minutes before transferring it from the mixing bowl to a piping bag. Put a small circular tip on the piping bag and use that to poke a hole in each cupcake. Add about 2 tablespoons of filling to each cupcake. 
  • Chocolate Ganache recipe: There are two ways to make the chocolate ganache topping. The first is with a heatproof bowl in the microwave. Put the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a medium bowl and microwave at 50% power for 1 minute. Then let it sit for 2 minutes until the surface is glossy. Another option is combining the chocolate ganache ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Dip the cupcake surface in the chocolate glaze and let harden before serving. 

Boston Cream Cupcakes dipping filled vanilla cupcakes into chocolate ganache frosting

VARIATIONS

  • Cream cheese frosting: If you want to use a different kind of frosting, the cream-filled cupcakes would taste great with Cream Cheese Frosting instead of chocolate ganache. Just keep in mind that it won’t look or taste as much like a Boston cream pie. 
  • Chocolate chips: If you want extra chocolatey cupcakes, you can mix mini chocolate chips into the batter for some delicious chocolate pieces throughout the recipe. 
  • Fruit filling: Instead of making Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes, you can try different kinds of fillings in the cupcakes. Strawberry Jam or Blueberry Jam would taste great inside the vanilla cupcakes. 

Boston Cream Cupcakes on serving plate

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HOW TO STORE

  • Serve: Because of the pastry cream filling, you shouldn’t leave Boston Cream Cupcakes at room temperature for more than a couple of hours. 
  • Store: Transfer the cupcakes to an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 1 week. 
  • Freeze: You could also freeze Boston Cream Cupcakes for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge, then set them at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.  

Boston Cream Cupcake cut in half to expose cream filling

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Dinner, then Dessert

Boston Cream Cupcakes

Boston Cream Cupcakes are made with tender, classic yellow cakes topped off with a chocolate glaze and filled with vanilla cream just like Boston Cream Pie!
Yield 12 Servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Boston Cream Cupcakes vanilla cupcake with bite exposing cream filling and chocolate ganache frosting
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Ingredients
 

Yellow Cupcakes:

  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 1 cups sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

  • 3 ounces Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Chocolate Frosting:

Instructions

Yellow Cupcakes:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin tray with liner cups.
  • To a stand mixer add the butter and sugar and cream until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Add in eggs, vanilla extract, and milk until well combined, about 30 seconds.
  • Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the stand mixer on the lowest speed setting until just combined.
  • Using an ice cream scoop fill the cups 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Cool completely.

Vanilla Cream Filling:

  • Using a stand mixer or hand mixer add the pudding mix, milk, and heavy cream and beat for 3-4 minutes until creamy.
  • Let sit for 5 minutes.
  • Put pudding in a piping bag with a small circular tip.
  • Poke tip into cupcake and add about 2 tablespoons of filling.

Chocolate Glaze:

  • Add chocolate chips and heavy cream to a microwave-safe bowl.
  • Microwave on 50% power for 1 minute.
  • Let sit for 2 minutes untouched then stir until smooth and glossy.
  • Dip cupcakes upside down into glaze then let harden.

Nutrition

Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 88mg | Sodium: 132mg | Potassium: 226mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 826IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 2mg

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About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Have you tried freezing these? I have made them and they are delicious! I used the piping tip method of filling and was surprised how simple it was, especially for a large number of cupcakes. I just don’t know if the cream inside will freeze well. I think that it should since it is such a small amount and inside of the cake.

    Reply

  3. Would homemade pudding work as well as using instant pudding? I do not like the after taste that come with mixes.

    Reply