Hostess Chocolate Cupcake

Make the cupcakes:

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  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin well and set it aside. In a medium-size, heat-safe bowl, place the chocolate and butter. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water to melt the chocolate and butter, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Remove the bowl from the pot and add the sugar, sour cream, egg, and vanilla, beating well after each addition. In a large bowl, place the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, and mix to combine. The batter will be thick.
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  Fill the prepared muffin cups full and shake the batter into an even layer in each well. Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are just firm to the touch. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Make the filling:

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  Prepare the 7-Minute Crème Filling for Snack Cakes while the cupcakes are cooling (recipe follows). This will be used for both the filling and the swirl.
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  Once the cakes have cooled, create a well in the center of the top of each cake with a ¾-inch round cookie cutter, cutting off the bottom of the removed cake pieces with a knife. Set the removed cake pieces aside. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a ¼-inch plain piping tip and pipe about 1½ tablespoons of prepared filling into the open well in each cake. Cover the filling in each cake with one of the removed cake pieces and press down to secure.
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  Set a piece of parchment or waxed paper under the wire rack and place the cakes back on the rack.

Make the glaze:

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  Place the chocolate and coconut oil in a medium-size, heat-safe bowl and place the bowl over a pot of simmering water to melt the ingredients, making sure the bowl does not touch the water.
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  Dip the top of each cooled and filled cupcake carefully into the glaze, bob it up and down a few times to ensure that the entire top of each cake is covered in glaze, and place back onto the wire rack. Allow the glaze to set at room temperature.

Make the swirl:

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  Place some of the remaining 7-Minute Crème Filling in a pastry bag with a very small (#1 or #2) piping tip, and pipe a swirl across the top of the chocolate glaze. Allow to set once again at room temperature.
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  These snack cakes are best enjoyed within 2 days of being glazed, but they will keep for up to a month wrapped individually in freezer-safe wrap and frozen. Defrost at room temperature. The chocolate glaze may bloom a bit over time, but it won’t affect the taste at all.

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  Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large heat-safe bowl to use with a hand mixer, and whisk together to combine well.
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  Place the bowl over a simmering pot of water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the mixing bowl, and cook until the mixture reaches 160°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat with the whisk attachment (or a hand mixer) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes.