Ding Dongs

Everything is always better homemade than store bought, right? Well, I decided I wanted to make ding dongs, and it turned out so easy and simple (best of all, the ingredients are always on hand at my house). So this is what I did:

Make cupcakes (I just use a box - sooo much easier!), but only fill them about half way (you don't want them to over flow out the top of the pan). Once cooled I "inject" the bottoms with this filling (see picture):

Filling:

1/4 cup all-purpous flour

1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk together the flour and milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Set aside to cool completely.

Once cooled, beat the 1/2 cup shortening, butter, sugar and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the milk mixture and continue to beat for 4 more minutes.

You'll want to inject the cupcakes about 3 - 4 times to make sure you get a good amount of filling in there.

For the chocolate topping you can do a ganache (which is good just messier) or use a dipping chocolate (also good, but much prettier than the ganache - depends on what you want).

Dipping Chocolate:

Melt 12 oz chocolate

Add 2 teaspoons shortening, mix until smooth

Then dip the tops of the cupcakes into melted mixture. If serve cold I've found they taste better.