What could be better than stuffing things inside a cupcake? I mean, really. A cupcake is like a dream come true for a lot of people… or at least something that gives them a tiny bit of a joy when they unexpectedly get one on a Monday morning. When I stumbled on the Bake It in a Cake blog a few years ago, it was like a revelation to me, “Wow! I never thought of shoving THAT into a cupcake.” And the creativity stirred all on its own until I was doing all kinds of out-there experiments with stuffed cupcakes and cookies.

All of that has been on the backburner this year, but as Halloween came around, I remembered the recipe for pumpkin cupcakes filled with Rolo candies, frosted with spiced-apple-cider icing.

I had to made a few modifications:

1. In the original Bake It in a Cake recipe, the pumpkin cake part is just cake with pumpkin in it, and I still wanted it to be pumpkin spice, so I used an entirely different cake recipe.
2. Also Rolo candy is not that common here. Usually I substitute with Norwegian Smil candy, but this time I had Swedish Center candy, which is actually better than Smil, so I might make the switch entirely (except that Smil is sold in big bulk packages at the crazy border shopping centers).
   

   Swedish Center candy – like Rolo only better

3. I don’t like (and don’t like making) normal buttercream frosting, which also seems awfully grainy to me. I made Swiss meringue buttercream (follow the same recipe as in the fauxstess cupcake recipe but instead of vanilla, add two or three packages of powdered instant apple cider mix).

Gingersnap base of the pumpkin cupcake

Pumpkin cake batter, Center/Rolo pressed in the middle

Pumpkin cupcake frosted with spiced apple cider icing and topped with Halloween sprinkles

Pumpkin cupcake cut in half! See the Rolo in there?