6. chocolate sour cream w/ chocolate buttercream

Now these chocolate delights didn't turn out exactly like Betty's just because i altered the frosting recipe a smidgen. it called for however much of the baking chocolate to be melted and well, i didn't have any baking chocolate. i had plenty of chocolate chips and baking cocoa though, so i made due. i melted some of the chocolate chips with a teeny bit of milk (because, once again, i was out of whipping cream) and then also just added some cocoa. The result was yummy but i could've added more powdered sugar to make it more stiff. Next time.

i also found out the difference between the closed star and open star frosting tips. in Betty's picture those are closed star. i used an open star because i really wasn't sure. Well, now i am. it's all in the learning process, right?

5. peppermint swirl

i think these are my favorite cupcakes so far because they are so so delicious! Betty Crocker sure knows what she's doing when it comes to baked treats.

Here's hers:

Here's a little spiel about the making of these phenomenal goodies. You start with a white cake batter and separate about 1/3 of it. That third gets some peppermint extract (make sure it says peppermint, regular old mint is not the same thing) and add some red food coloring. Then you alternate putting the white and peppermint batters into the cupcake liners and swirl it around. After they're baked you frost them with a peppermint buttercream and decorate them like peppermint swirl candies. Perfection!

Now, the only thing is mine didn't turn out exactly "white". i added vanilla pudding mix to the batter because it just makes cake so much more moist and delicious. But as you know (or don't know and are just finding out) pudding is not white and therefore made my white cake a yellow cake. No biggie.

4. chocolate with penuche frosting

With the leftover cupcakes from the ghosts, it was time to try the penuche frosting. Apparently it's Spanish for "raw sugar" or "brown sugar" and they're absolutely delectable. The frosting is a decadent concoction of brown sugar, butter, and powdered sugar that tastes like toffee. Seriously. For the garnish i chose to coarsely chop up the mini chocolate chips i purchased for the ghosts rather than grate semi-sweet baking chocolate.

3. ghosts (boo!)

in honor of Halloween i set out to make ghost cupcakes. My first attempt turned out terrible. Every single cupcake sank in the middle, turned crisp on the sides, and was a gooey mess in the middle. Disappointed? Absolutely. But the marshmallow fondant turned out delicious! So i decided to save it for another day when the Cupcakes Gods were feeling more kind.

Today was that day. Granted they didn't turn out quite so clean-cut as Miss Betty's:

But they still turned out rather cute, i think.

2. witch's hat

Recently i had a girls' weekend with the lady folk in my family for Gardner Village's annual WitchFest. in honor of that i felt it appropriate that we make these adorable witch hat cupcakes while we were still together.

Betty's:

And mine:

They turned out adorable. The little nieces helped create the hats and it was a blast. The cupcakes even domed ever so perfectly and the frosting was delicious. Note: the frosting was delicious. Not the cupcakes. For some reason this batch of yellow cupcakes only tasted like flour. No sugar, vanilla, nothing. Very weird.

i've been contemplating on the cause and i'm considering it was the actual flour we used. it was already up at the cabin (where we were chilling for the girls' weekend) and i have no idea how long it'd been there for. Can flour go bad? Or maybe the WitchFest just took all my powers for the weekend? Always a possibility.

At least they look cute and it can only go better next time, right?

1. boston cream pie

Today was my first venture into the lovely land of Betty Crocker cupcakes. And what better start than with Boston Cream Pie cupcakes? 

Pictured here is what they're supposed to look like:

And here's how mine turned out:

Now. These are the best looking ones out of the bunch because my chocolate icing didn't turn out as thick. The solution? More powdered sugar (as my dear friends advised me because that's the best way to get a thicker consistency). 

Well...after basically doubling the sugar content it was still a bit runny. in order to avoid going into a sugar coma i thought it might just be best to stick with it as is. i mean, it is still delicious, right? So the majority of the cupcakes ended up with a bit of a skiwampus icing job. 

Delicious flavor? Of course. Aesthetically pleasing? i'm working on it..lol

the beginning

Today my sister surprised me with the fabulous treasure that is Betty Crocker's "The Big Book of Cupcakes". She picked it up at Costco and her little girl wouldn't put it down (obviously a sign of great taste). Knowing that i absolutely love to bake (and share) cupcakes they got it for me. it was signed and everything. :)

Then the thought occurred to me: a Julie & Julia-esque journey. Now mine will be quite different in a few aspects. i will not be making cupcakes EVERY day as that is unrealistic in my circumstances (i am a student after all) and rather pricey. There is no time limit; although before i die would be preferable. And hopefully the folks at Betty Crocker won't be upset and think i'm a crazy.

So, without further ado, let the fab journey of "joy in a cupcake wrapper" begin! (royalties to Miss Shannee for the tagline).