Sprinkles are required, not suggested

So I didn't know it... but I'm a sucker for CostCo Cake. I really do like Sam's Club and CostCo giant sheet cakes - but who needs one of those in their houses? What I love about the CostCo version is it has a vanilla filling that is not too sweet but vanilla-y and so good. I saw this copycat for the cake version, well we were heading to a church pot luck and let's be honest - cupcakes are way easier with potlucks. Fewer little hands grabbing at things, less work for the servers to put a tray of cupcakes down instead of cutting and serving cake. Less change of me dropping a 9 x 13 cake all over when I’m trying to flip and layer. Cupcakes! I made this in a morning before we headed to the county fair. Why yes we have a county fair and we love it. Anyway... I had the cupcakes cooling on the table - I thought away from Bernard... nope... he gobbled up two of them. Ugh... Dog. Anyway... When it came time to fill these, I wanted to cut a hole, but the cake was too tender. I ended up sticking the tip in and giving a good ol' squeeze. Once the cupcake felt heavy and bulged a bit - we were good to go. Added a swirl of buttercream and some sprinkles, off to the pot luck. I did store these in the fridge overnight and they turned out great. I would certainly make these again, they weren't too sweet but nice and cool from the fridge they were a great treat.

Copycat Costco Sheet Cake as Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk, divided
2 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
5 to 6 cups powdered sugar

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix white sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add in the eggs one at a time and continue mixing.
With the mixer running, add in one cup of milk, two teaspoons vanilla extract, and vegetable oil. Mix until just combined.
Portion into cupcake tins lined with liners Bake for 20 minutes until light golden brown. A toothpick inserted into the cake will tell you if the cupcakes are completely baked.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the two cups heavy whipping cream and half a cup of milk. Begin whipping your cream, and then add in the powdered pudding mix. Whip the mixture until the ingredients are combined, and then increase the speed to whip the mixture into a thick mousse.
For the buttercream frosting, add the softened stick of butter to the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whip the butter until smooth and gradually add in two cups of powdered sugar while the mixer is running. Gradually add in half a cup of milk. Add in two teaspoons vanilla extract. Continue to gradually add in the rest of the powdered sugar while the mixer is running, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Once all ingredients are incorporated and your frosting begins to form, increase the speed of the mixer to whip the frosting.
Use a star tip to pipe filling into center of the cupcake until cupcake bulges.
Use star tip to pipe frosting on top of cupcake. Add sprinkles and refrigerate cupcakes.