Great concept! I make a version of these 4 every gathering we attend & they are always gone first. Who wants a hostess cupcake when you can have a confection that tastes like it just came from a Confectionery in Paris? If you want a REALLY chocolaty cupcake, simply buy a dark chocolate fudge cake mix (yes, you can use a mix, the food police will not arrest you! simple & good) and make according 2 the package EXCEPT replace the water w/ strong coffee. Trust me, you won't taste coffee (which I hate & refuse 2 drink) but you will taste deep, dark chocolate- sigh-. ***** THEN, which sounds easier: cutting a hole in every cake and filling, then replacing the top, or simply filling the pastry bag and piping it in? Who wants 2 waste all that delicious cake?! Just pipe starting w/ the tip close 2 the middle, not the bottom. ***THEN, forget a shortening based filling. If you want over-the-top gourmet flavor that make people beg for more, make a vanilla bean Italian Meringue Butter Cream frosting. Google it, & don't use any recipe that calls for shortening- yuck. TRUE IMBC frosting has no shortening. Pipe those cakes half full of THAT, then make a chocolate ganache & while liquid & warm, fill a wilt*n squeeze bottle (used for making chocolates) & squeeze ganache all over the tops of the cupcakes. So easy to do! Oh and do yourself a really big favor- stop using regular vanilla and start using S*noma Syrup's Vanilla Bean Crush- it will take your desserts to new heights! :)

Reviewed On: Apr. 27, 2012

As with most recipes, your appreciation for Pumpkin Cream Pie will hinge on whether or not you *like* instant pudding mixes. If you don't like instant pudding, then you probably won't like this. If you adore instant pudding, then you'll probably love this and make it often! Also, my instant pudding lovin' husband didn't like it because it had pumpkin in it (go figure) so perhaps it's best to say if you don't like one of the ingredients you probably won't like the dish. That's me- overstating the obvious. ;) I thought it was greatly improved by adding toasted chopped pecans.

Reviewed On: Oct. 31, 2011

I made this recipe for a quarterly work dinner meeting and people just raved over it. The ginger and peach combo is out of this world! Super YUM!!! I used the calculator and made 16 servings. caveat #1- I think this needs to bake longer, say 35 - 40 minutes instead of 20 - 30. OR, perhaps I'll microwave the peach filling a bit before adding to baking dish and topping with ginger cookie mixture. caveat #2- I used my food processor to "crush" the cookies and cut in the butter. Next time I'm going to use a rolling pin and ziplock bag and then there will be larger chunks of cookie. I'll probably also cut back on the butter by about 1/3. caveat #3- serve immediately so it does not get soggy.

Reviewed On: Jul. 27, 2011