Birthday Cupcakes - Part 1

From my previous post you learned I went a little "cupcake crazy" for Randy's birthday party.  But I really haven't lost my mind (totally) or turned into superwoman baker.  The entire prep for the party was completed with a couple of hours on Friday night and then another eight hours on Saturday, after Kyle, Carly, Eva and I went garage saling!

So, needless to say, there was labor intensive baking and there was "easy" baking.  Here are the easy cupcakes.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes jazzed up!

A few weeks ago I posted these cupcakes.  They are a new recipe from Pillsbury, Pink Lemonade with Pink Lemonade frosting.  So, I whipped up a batch, totally according to the box, cooled them, opened the can, frosted them and then topped them with a small slice of strawberry to jazz them up.  They are so moist, yummy and impressive. 



Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

I made a batch of Betty Crocker Chocolate cupcakes.  Then, when I was deciding how to frost them I remembered I had bought a can of the new Duncan Hines Frosting Creations because I wanted to try them.  The frosting is plain white frosting and then you purchase what flavor you want to make.  I chose an orange frosting mix known as Orange Creme.  You just open the little packet of flavoring and  mix it into the can.  There are lots of flavors to choose from.  If they are all as tasty as the orange, they are a great find.  I piped the frosting on to the cupcake with a large star tip.  Then, another little trick...I put about 1/2 cup chocolate chips in a ziploc sandwich bag and put it into the microwave for 30 seconds, flipped it over for another 30 seconds.  Then I zipped the bag and made a small cut in one of the bottom corners.  This allowed me to drizzle little V's over the orange frosting.  The candy on top is a small pice of an chocolate covered orange candy. 

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These were made from Duncan Hines Classic Carrot Cake mix.  The mix comes with a little packet of dried carrots and raisins that you rehydrate before mixing them into the batter.   I frosted them with Betty Crocker canned cream cheese frosting (because it was in my pantry).  They were frosted by piping the frosting through a large round tip.  Yummy, yummy, yummy.

Thank goodness for Pillsbury, Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker - they make making gourmet cupcakes sooooo easy and soooo delicious. 

Part II will be the labor intensive cupcakes from scratch.......worth the labor if you are into that kind of thing!