Cake Decorating Tips: How to Fill a Cupcake

The only thing better than cupcakes is cupcakes with a surprise filling. You don't need to be an experienced baker to master this technique, because there are many different ways to accomplish it. If one isn't working for you, try something else and be prepared for some not so pretty, but still delicious cupcakes

How you fill your cupcake and how well your technique works will depend not only on the density of the cake you made but also the type of filing you are using. For example, filling a fluffy light cake such as angel food with a strawberry or raspberry filling will be much easier and more successful than trying to fill a dense pound cake style cake with a thick chocolate filling.

One technique that works well with denser cakes or fillings is the cone method. Simply, cut an upside down cone shape out of the top of your cupcake. Then spoon your choice of filling into the empty hole and place the cone back on top. If you don't want the cone to stick up too much over the top of your cupcake you can always shave some of the cake off of it, so it would be thinner. Once you frost the entire cupcake no one will be able to tell it was cut apart.

For filling cupcakes with lighter fillings, such as frosting, you can get a special pastry tips made for fillings. Simply stick the tip into your cupcake and squeeze the filling inside. You will have to experiment with the amount of filling to make sure you don't overflow your cupcakes.

Depending on what your filling is, it might be easiest to just bake the filling in the cupcake. This can have good results with fruit or chocolate fillings. Simply fill your cupcake pans like you normally would but use slightly less batter so they won't overflow. Add your filling to the center and then cover it as little with more cake batter. I like to use this method to fill my cupcakes with chocolate chips or small pieces of candy or cookie dough for a nice surprise.