Well, apparently yesterday was National Cupcake Day (or per my National Day Calendar, National Chocolate Cupcake Day)! A day late and a dollar short…story of my life! Anyway, for those days when you can’t bake cupcakes from scratch, here are my tips on making the most of box cupcakes.
A good friend told me this and it works – when making any boxed cake mix, replace the water with an equal amount of milk and add one extra egg. I guess the manufacturers figure people are more likely to have water in their house than milk? Or maybe they figure it’s less expensive (although after hearing about some of my friends’ water bills out west, I think buying a cow would be less expensive). Anyway, I don’t know, but I’ve done it and it really does make a box taste much more homemade!
My other tip is decorate those cupcakes! Homemade icing is a great way to upgrade a cupcake, and if you’re not up for that, there are some simple decorating tricks that work wonders. The chocolate cupcakes (for National Chocolate Cupcake Day) above were made with a box mix and a tub of frosting – simply chill the frosting for around an hour, put it in a decorating bag with the largest star tip, and swirl the icing around the top of the cupcake (I’m going to do a video of this in the (hopefully) near future, so stay tuned). If you’re feeling really fancy, add some sprinkles because who doesn’t love sprinkles, and no one will ask any questions! What I really like to add to fancy things up is that colored sugar – I love regular sprinkles, but colored sugar is just so decorative!
The strawberry ones were super-easy too. They started with “my” strawberry cake (see https://allybearsden.blog/2018/08/19/humble-pie-and-peach-salsa/ for that story). Cut twelve strawberries in half and set them, cut side down, on a paper towel for about a half-hour to let them dry a little while you do other things. When you’re ready to rejoin your cupcakes, set each strawberry half in the middle of a cupcake. I like to squeeze a little dot of icing on top of the cupcake before putting the strawberry on as extra insurance that it won’t move. Melt 1 cup of dark chocolate candy melts in the microwave, put in a squeeze bottle, and “draw” a grid over the top of the cupcake. Voila…chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakes!
The last ones in this picture are carrot cake cupcakes. They’re getting a post of their own tomorrow, because there’s a lot going on there. That being said, they’re another proof of the wonders of homemade frosting – making the cream cheese frosting is easy as anything and a great way to improve any cupcake!
Hope you enjoyed these belated cupcake hacks? What’s your favorite thing to do with a boxed cake mix?
