Carolyn J. Braden • 2 Minute Read
How To Make Pudding Filled Cupcakes
I have a very fond memories based on cooking with my parents. Our happy times usually were centered around yummy food. No, life was not perfect in our house, as my parents eventually fell out of love and divorced, but the love and memories of delicious food and desserts stuck around. We made a delicious chocolate strawberry trifle over and over and over again and I recreated it in this recipe post. It was just as delicious as I remembered.
My favorite cake mix and pudding mix
I recently had a memory of eating pudding filled cupcakes that my mom made when I was very young. I called her to ask about how she made them and she didn’t remember them at all, but was happy that I did. I told her I fondly remembered eating those pudding filled cupcakes, thinking they were so cool. Kids love fun and unique baked goods. There have been plenty of television shows that prove this.
I use an ice cream scoop to place cake mix into the liners
A cupcake itself is delicious, but to have a bite of pudding surprise a kid, that was just very groovy. So, to try to keep this fun memory alive, I once again turned to my kitchen to try to recreate her pudding filled cupcakes and I succeeded. Read on to learn how to make pudding filled cupcakes.
A wine cork works to create a great pudding placement spot
The pudding filled cupcake is similar to a lava cake. A lava cake recipe involves a runny, chocolate center that bursts open upon first forkful, as a pudding filled cupcake has a firmer pudding center. Not only does the pudding taste good, but it can also add moisture to a cupcake.
A spoon easily adds pudding to a cupcake
I used to add instant pudding mix to boxed cake mixes to make them extra moist, which is a great trick I added to my post about my best baking tips. Pudding mix and pudding that is already made is a hack that many frequent bakers use to make many baked creations very moist.
Smoothing the pudding on the cupcake tops
See me create my delicious pudding based trifle in my one minute video below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
For pudding filled cupcakes, you can either make cupcakes from scratch or you can use a box mix. I use box mixes frequently, and love the Simple Mills brand. They are grain free, but you would never know it. Their mixes are smooth, taste delicious and my family loves them. That’s very important when cooking for other people!
I chose to smooth my cupcake icing tops for this recipe
When we were evacuated for Hurricane Ian in Indiana with my husband’s family, we used a Simple Mills bread mix to make muffins to go with a vegetable soup I made and my father-in-law loved them! He loved my vegetable soup too!
I place my cupcakes in a plastic container to easily apply sprinkles
While I haven’t gotten to share my pudding filled cupcakes with my extended family yet, I know they will love them when I do. We’ll be moving out of Florida in the near future and I foresee my many baked creations traveling with me from our Georgia home to my in-laws in Indiana. I made their birthday cakes every year before we moved to Sanibel Island, so maybe pudding filled cupcakes can be a new birthday tradition too.
The pudding keeps cupcakes extra moist
Here is the list of ingredients and the process I used to make chocolate pudding filled chocolate cupcakes. Feel free to experiment with your own techniques and flavor combinations that you love.
Our dog’s birthday was inspiration for this display (but no, he cannot have the chocolate cupcakes!)
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Suggested Tools: parchment cupcake liners, cupcake baking tin, plastic wine cork, ice cream scoop, icing spatula
Time to Create: 1 hour (can vary according to cake mixes/recipes)
Ingredients:
1 boxed cake mix (I used Simple Mills Almond Flour Chocolate Muffin and Cake Mix + any ingredients the mix will need)
3.5-4.1 oz. box of instant pudding (I used Garden Dessert Chocolate Instant Pudding)
Milk of your choice (to make the pudding)
Icing (You can use store bought OR I love Liv for Cake’s chocolate buttercream icing recipe. I make a half batch of her chocolate icing for 12 basic cupcakes, but I make a full batch if I plan to pipe on the icing)
Optional: sprinkles, candelabra candle holder (I got mine on TEMU), decorative cupcake liners
How To:
Make the chocolate pudding according to the package directions. Place in the refrigerator.
Make the cupcakes according to the package directions. Allow them to cool completely.
Take a wine cork and place it into each cupcake, wiggling it around to add room for the pudding. You can alternatively cut the center out.
Spoon some pudding into each cupcake until it is full.
Use a small spatula to wipe off the excess pudding of the top of the cupcake (so the icing has a not-so-slippery surface so the icing stays put).
Pipe or spoon some icing onto the cupcake top and use the icing spatula to smooth it down.
Top with optional sprinkles and place in the refrigerator.
See Recipe Tips and Tricks Below!
Tips and Tricks:
Use an ice cream scoop to place the right amount of cupcake batter into each liner
I place my cupcakes in a large plastic containers when applying sprinkles to contain them for easier clean up. Then, I either leave them in the container and they are ready for travel OR I take them out of the container for display.
Bake in the parchment liners, then place them in decorative liners. The parchment liners don’t stick to the cupcake as much as many decorative liners do. Or, spray the liners with a cooking or baking spray prior to adding the mix.
I had leftover pudding, which my husband happily enjoyed as a yummy dessert on the side of the cupcakes
You do not have to use instant pudding for this to work. You can use a cooked pudding style too. A warm cupcake with warm pudding could be delicious, but the icing may melt, but it’d still be tasty!
If you loved this article, we know you’ll love this one too: Quick Strawberry Chocolate Trifle Dessert Recipe
My husband adored the pudding cupcakes!
Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.