Happy almost Pi Day! I’ve been trying to think of what delicious pie creation I would share with you today. Although not an expert baker by any means I enjoy sharing yummy treats with you. Over the years I’ve made a tropical pie, mason jar pies, red velvet pie, and chocolate pecan pie. I’ve even made an epic pie cake (also known as a piecaken or pumpple cake) and a cheesecake stuffed red velvet cake that my mouth still waters over. Well today I decided to share some piecaken cupcakes! If you’ve ever wanted to make some type of pie cake (or piecaken) but felt intimidated (I promise if you use a store-bought pie it’s really not hard!) then these cupcake versions are even easier. And they’re simple for feeding a large crowd.
piecaken cupcakes
Some piecaken cupcakes will use whole mini pies. Apparently Trader Joe’s makes some tasty ones. However, we don’t have a Tarder Joe’s near us and I don’t get to go that often. Besides which, maybe you don’t want to spend a lot on making these piecaken cupcakes. Well, I was able to pick up this Lemon Blueberry Crumb pie from my local Walmart for less than $5! I was very impressed with the flavor, especially when baked into vanilla cupcakes.
These Piecaken Cupcakes are a simpler take on an epic piecaken or pumpple cake. With pie baked inside of each cupcake now you don’t have to choose between the two.
- 1 Box cake mix and the ingredients called for
- 1 Frozen pie, any flavor
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Allow to frozen pie to defrost slightly, about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 325°. Line cupcake pan with liners.
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Mix up box cake mix according to package directions and scoop a small amount of batter in the bottom of each cupcake liner.
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Using an ice cream or dough scoop spoon a portion of pie into each cupcake cavity. Spoon more cupcake batter on top to cover the pie.
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Bake for 25-35 minutes. The trick to baking these correctly is low and slow. I recommend beginning to check on the cupcakes around 22 minutes.
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Allow to cool before frosting. The pie filling stay hot for awhile to be careful if you’re eating soon after baking!
To amp up the lemon flavor you could make a lemon buttercream frosting or use a lemon cake mix. Just don’t go too overboard with the lemon; I actually found the balance of flavors to be perfect. Insider tip–microwave for just a few seconds before consuming. Not too much to melt the buttercream, but just about 8 seconds heats the pie filling up and the gooey cupcake is oh so good.
Of course, you can make these piecaken cupcakes any flavor you want! Why not try cherry pie in chocolate cupcakes, or make some apple spice piecaken cupcakes?
