Boston Cream Cupcakes

My husband is a huge fan of the Boston Cream Donut.  So much so that there are some little jokes about it at work and he has on occasion been sent into the office with the promise of said donut only to be laughed at a little when he finds out there are no Boston Creams available.  I often send treats into work with Bobby (typically because I like to make treats, play with new things and try new things out and we can't eat them all for obvious reasons), so I thought it would be fun to send a "Boston Cream" something into work with him, I have been playing with cupcakes a little lately and I came up with these tonight.  It's my own recipe, but it is a mash-up of things I have gotten from cookbooks (the cupcake itself is a mix up of the Death By Chocolate recipe in 101 Things To Do With a Cake Mix) and around the internet (the frosting is a change up of the recipe I got here).

Interested in making them yourself?  Here you go:

Boston Cream Cupcakes:


Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Ready 24 cupcake liners in cupcake pans.  Mix cake mix and dry pudding mix together in a bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Fill cupcake liners 1/2 - 2/3 full (this should make exactly 24 cupcakes).  Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees or JUST until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean or with just a very few crumbs sticking to it.  Leave cupcakes to cool.


Filling: 
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups cold milk


Make pudding as directed on package with 2 cups milk.  Let pudding set up 5-10 minutes in the fridge.


Fill a pastry bag with a #10 tip (large round tip) attached with the set pudding.  Place tip into the top of cooled cupcake and pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling into each cupcake (you won't use all the pudding probably).  This part just takes a little practice and patience.  Make sure you get the tip well into the cupcake (about 3/4 of the way in for sure) and pipe slowly.  They won't all have exactly the same amount of filling, NO ONE WILL CARE, so don't stress it.


Frosting (this is where it is at with this recipe, this frosting is ridiculous!):
8 oz dark chocolate (you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips here)
4 oz cream cheese (that's half a regular package)
1 cup heavy cream
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip (just use the Cool Whip and don't ask questions, okay?)


Place 8 oz of chopped chocolate or chips into a glass or metal mixing bowl with 4 oz of cream cheese broken up with your hands (I use the mixing bowl for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer).  Put 1 cup of cream into a pan and set on the stove over medium low heat and place mixing bowl with chocolate and cream cheese over it (you are creating kind of a double boiler).  You want your chocolate and cream cheese to start to melt, BUT you don't want to scorch your cream so watch them both closely.  When the cream starts to boil pour it over your chocolate and cream cheese mixture (it won't be fully melted, but make sure you cover it) and let it set to cool for 20-30 minutes.  When that time has passed add in your pudding mix and mix for two minutes with either the whisk attachment on your stand mixer or a hand mixer.  Now mix in 1/2 of the tub of Cool Whip then fold the other 1/2 of the Cool Whip in until the frosting is uniform.  Using your favorite tip pipe the frosting onto the top of the cupcakes (I like a giant tip like the 4B star tip I used for these today) and ENJOY!


Bobby and I have both tried them and they are pretty excellent...hopefully they get good reviews at his work tomorrow!

Women - Tougher Than Ever

A friend of mine on Facebook posted the following article today...and it made me think and it made me ANGRY.

Tough Gals Do They Still Exist?

Are women more "girly" than they have been in the last 30 years?  Maybe.  There does seem to be a resurgence of femininity in a lot of circles lately.  Women who are proud to cook, bake, craft, sew, knit, be good homemakers, mothers, and/or wives.  Women who wear makeup, pearls, high heels, and gasp PINK.

NOT ME!
Another supermom I know, links to her blog.

My question is this: does being feminine or taking pride in doing typically "domestic" things make us less tough?  Um, hell no.

I would submit to you that it is even harder today in the face of "feminists", who want all things feminine eradicated from our world, to be strong, feminine and even domestic.

I carried two children inside my body.  Almost ten months of my body not being my own with each one, followed by c-sections, the first after 18.5 hours of labor (including 7+ hours of a pitocin drip).  Twenty-five hours after I had my second child (also via c-section) I was showered and dressed in my own clothes sitting cross legged on my hospital bed nursing my baby.  The nurse who came in to check on me that morning said she didn't know how I did it, there were women all around me who were to be discharged in just a few hours who she couldn't even get out of bed to shower (I had very forcefully requested that my night nurse come in and take out my catheter the moment it had been in 24 hours so I could move around and shower on my own, my request was granted, because I didn't give them "no" as an option).  I was home 56 hours after that second c-section taking care of my newborn and my not quite two year old (although I had help the first week).  In five days I was at church (in nylons and a dress) with both kids and the next day I was taking care of the house and kids on my own.  And my story is NOTHING.  I have friends who have given birth without their husbands (who were deployed when the babies came) some of them after months of bed rest and complicated pregnancies while they took care of their toddlers and homes on their own.  Not to mention friends of mine who have been unable to bear children and the heartache they have endured and come through to be wonderful mothers to children they did not give birth to but love no different than if they had.

I am not the world's best homemaker...in fact, I have never been a great fan of cleaning, but I'm getting better.  I can get an amazing amount done in just a few short stolen minutes while my kids are napping or distracted by a game or movie.  I can get just about any stain out of just about any fabric.  I can unload and load a whole dishwasher in 10 minutes flat (including hand-washing anything too big or delicate to go into said dishwasher).

I can make dinner out of pantry staples in less than 30 minutes, or I can put together a totally elaborate spread for 15 when necessary.  I can throw an amazing party for a three year old or for a military commissioning ceremony.

I can diagnose and fix simple computer issues.  I can check my own oil and water in my car.  I can recharge my ac, tighten an ac belt, diagnose simple car problems and I can change a tire (I don't always do those things, but I am perfectly capable of them all).  I can take apart a vacuum cleaner and put it back together (and it will still work).  I take out my own garbage (and since we live in the sticks and it's required right now I can and do my own burning).  I can mow my own lawn.  I can iron a dress, a child's shirt, a man's shirt, my shirt, slacks, or a military uniform to perfection.  I can balance a budget.  I can change two diapers in two minutes on a changing table in a dirty public bathroom without ever letting a child's bum touch the changer.  I can change a diaper on my lap in a car or on a park bench.  I can nurse in public without you or anyone else in the room even noticing.  I can fix boo-boos with a kiss.

I craft and I sew and I'm even pretty good at some of it.  I enjoy making things and I enjoy the joy those things can bring to others.  It's FUN to make other people happy with something I have put time and effort into, and it makes people feel special to know that someone would put more effort than running to the store into a gift.

I keep a marriage alive and growing.  My husband is away a lot, it's not always easy, but we do it together.  We communicate via email about things most couples get to have face to face and heartfelt discussions about (like having a first baby, a second baby or how to know if your family is complete).  I manage to make my husband feel as loved and appreciated as he is, even when I can't throw my arms around him every day to show him.  I work hard to make sure that both my children know their daddy loves them and is thinking of them when he is gone often (not an easy task with toddlers).  I teach them that their daddy's job is important, that he helps us and all of their friends be free and safe.  And when my husband is home, I do all I can to show him just exactly how much he was missed and is loved everyday.

I teach my children to count, to color, to recognize shapes, letters, numbers and colors.  As they grow I will teach them to read, to use a computer, to use a phone and to take care of themselves.  I read to them, I play with them, I make sure they know they are loved, I discipline them.  I teach them where they came from, why they are here and where they are going.  I teach them to pray, I pray with them.  I get them ready for church every Sunday and even when they are monsters at church they know that is where we belong and I will have it no other way.

I don't want to burn my bra (I need it, have you seen my boobs? we need all the help fighting gravity we can get), no corporate job could ever be as challenging or as rewarding for me as my 24/7/365 job as a wife, mother, and homemaker, I am a supermom and I am lucky to know a lot of other supermoms, I want exactly what I have...and I make a mean cupcake.

Day Seventeen - A Song You Hear Often on the Radio

Lately I've been hearing this song A LOT, and I'm okay with that, because I kind of love this song (and so does Bobby, so when I hear it it makes me think of him, and that makes me happy):

Day Eighteen - My Wedding

I don't know exactly what this wants me to talk about but I'll tell you how it went (since you probably weren't one of the 20ish people who were there)...

Bobby and I were engaged for 17 days and were married on August 6, 2005. That morning I got up, a friend of mine came over and did my hair, I did my makeup...about 11:30 or so Bobby showed up at my mom's house (looking spectacular in his blues), I put my beautiful off white babydoll floor length dress on, my mom took some pictures of the two of us (yes *gasp* BEFORE our wedding). Then me and Bobby jumped in his car and went to the church where we set up the chairs in the Relief Society Room for the ceremony. People got to the church about 2, we started the ceremony soon after. Elizabeth Sheffer played the piano for the wedding (she played our song, "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts), and Bishop Doug Cole officiated at the wedding. Our vows were based on The Family: A Proclamation to the World, they were appropriate, they were simple, they were true, and they were short...our ceremony lasted eleven minutes, it was perfect. We signed the marriage certificate, our fathers were our witnesses and we were married, for time.

Last year, on November 21, 2009, I woke up in the morning, I did my hair and makeup, I put on a black skirt with purple flowers and a black shirt, dressed my Punk in his Sunday best and straightened Bobby's tie, we got in the car and drove to the LDS Temple in Mesa, Arizona. We went in and changed into white clothes. Then we went to the sealing room, Bobby and I were sealed as husband and wife, we had friends and family there with us, again, words from The Family: A Proclamation to the World were referenced, then Punk came in and was sealed to us as well...that day we became a family, for eternity.

Day Six - 20 Of My Favorite Things

One: Bobby

Two and Three: Punk and Bug

Four: Ryan


Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten and Eleven: Mom, Dad, Grandpa Carl, Grandma Bessie, Duane, April and Calla

Twelve: Ender

Thirteen: The Soares

Fourteen: Chocolate Ice Cream

Fifteen: Phineas and Ferb

Sixteen: Food Competition Shows




Seventeen: Ronald Reagan (we'll add political conservatism in here too)

Eighteen: Good Music (i.e., but not limited to): Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox Twenty
...and a million more, I don't have time or desire to list right now.

Nineteen: Old Disney Movies (i.e., but not limited to):





Twenty: And, though there is no picture for it, every single minute I get to spend with my family. As a Navy wife those minutes seem to be very few and far between and I am learning to be more proactive in savoring them when they come.