What you lookin' at cupcake??

They're not pretty. Not even a little bit. In fact, if you look closely, I bet you can see exactly where I got bored and quit trying (hint: it's after the first one). But they're delicious.



I love Hostess cupcakes. They're so delicious, and I can so rarely talk myself into buying them. So I thought to myself, "Self, what makes Hostess cupcakes so absurdly delicious? It's not the frosting, you've never been much of a frosting person anyway. The cake isn't particularly delicious, at least no so much more than other types of cake. IT'S THE FILLING."

So how do I recreate this deliciousness? I scoured the farthest reaches of the internet for the closest home made replica, and this is what I found:

Filling:
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine filling ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Reserve 1/2 cup of the filling to use for piping the swirls on top of the cupcakes at the end.

Now because the other parts weren't as important to me, I just used box cake mix for the cupcake and a basic ganache for the icing. But I really really like the filling.