Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes

A friend's son wanted chocolate cupcakes, for his birthday. I decided to try the Cake Mix Doctor's

Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes (I didn't do the frosting, I made a vanilla buttercream instead...)

Ingredients:

Filling and frosting
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package cook and serve chocolate pudding
2 cups milk
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

cupcakes
1 (18 1/4 ounce) box plain devil's food cake mix
3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup applesauce
3 large eggs

Make the filling and frosting: place the pudding mix and milk in a 2-qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, 4-5 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Add the chocolate chips, butter, and vanilla and stir until the chips and butter melts, 2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and cover the pudding with plastic wrap placed directly on its surface. Let cool for 45 minutes at room temperature.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F Line 24 cupcake wells with paper liners.
Make the batter: place the cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. Batter will be thick. Scoop 1/4 cup batter into each cupcake well~you should get 24.
Bake for 17-20 minutes, until tops are springy when lightly pressed. Cool in the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes.

Remove 4 cupcakes from the pans and crumble them into a bowl, making coarse crumbs. Loosen the remaining cupcakes from the pans and cool them on wire racks for 15 minutes.
Divide the pudding mixture into 2 portions. Fit a pastry bag with a large round tip and spoon 1 cup of the filling into the bag. Gently push the tip into the center of each cupcake and squirt a generous amount of pudding inside. Refill the bag as needed and repeat for all 20 cakes.
Place a heaping tablespoons of the remaining pudding portion on the top of each cupcake and spread to cover the entire surface. Top the frosting with a sprinkling of cupcake crumbs, pressing down slightly so they stick.
Store uneaten cupcakes covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Yield 20 servings