Its no secret that I love cooking. I love trying out new recipes and I wish I had more time and more money so that I could try making multiple new recipes every day. Because this is a known fact in my family, whenever it comes time to giving me a gift, like Christmas for example, a lot of my gifts are food oriented. I love it.  This last Christmas was no exception, I got many food utensils that I didn’t already have  but wanted (who knew there were so many different tools for different things in cooking) like a meat tenderizer, candy thermometer, pastry scraper, and more. And I even got some awesome gifts that I didn’t know I wanted, but am so happy to have.

I think I have mentioned it before, but my sweet husband is seriously one of the best gift givers. Although I gave him a list of a few things I wanted, and he got me some of them, he always is able to think of other really cool things that he knows I will love. So for Christmas one of the gifts I got from him was the Betty Crocker Big Book of Cupcakes along with this Frosting Decorater. So obviously this meant it was time for me to get into making cupcakes.

For my first trial I didn’t want to do anything too weird or too difficult so I went with a simple yellow cake and chocolate frosting, one of my favorite combinations. Usually when I make cakes or cupcakes I use a mix and canned frosting, so it was nice to find homemade versions. Of course I still need a lot more practice making my cupcakes beautiful, the frosting was a little thin I think, but I’ll get there.

Recipe Source: Betty Crocker Big Book of Cupcakes

Yellow Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened *
1/2 cup margarine, softened *
1 1/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup milk

*Or 1 full cup butter, or 1 full cup margarine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, paking powder and salt
3. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Once all combined, beat for 2 minutes longer.
4. Add eggs in one at a time, while stirring. Mix well after each addition.
5. Mix in vanilla.
6. Stirring slowly (or with mixer on low) alternate adding about 3/4 a cup flour (one third of the mixture) then 1/3 cup milk. Mixing well in between each addition. Continue mixing just until everything is blended, scraping the sides if necessary.
7. Pour batter into muffin pan prepared with muffin cups that have been greased. Fill each about 2/3 full.
8. Bake for about 22 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then allow to cool the remaining time on cooling racks.
10. Frost once completely cooled.

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 oz baking chocolate
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3-4 TBS milk

1. Melt chocolate in microwave for 2 minutes over medium power.
2. Combine butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl until smooth.
3. Stir in powdered sugar.”
4. Mix in vanilla and milk until smooth.  (Add more powdered sugar if it is too thick, add more milk if it is too thin)

Both recipes yield enough for 24 regular sized cupcakes.