Springtime Cupcakes

You gotta love a really cute cupcake. These are perfect for handing out as spring and summer roll in, especially for end of school year parties for kids! If you're in a hurry, there's always your favorite boxed mix. However, if you can spare the time, you'll find homemade cakes are a lot of fun to make and bake!

The Cake:

• 1 Boxed Yellow or Angel Food Cake Mix 

OR...

• 1 1/2 Cups White Granulated Sugar
• 1 Cup Room temperature butter (I used light butter)
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla 
• 3 Eggs, Room Temperature works Best
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 2 Cups Sifted Flour (Cake if you have it! It works a lot better than all-purpose)
• 3/4 Cup Milk (can go anywhere from skim to buttermilk-richer the milk, richer the taste, but more calories!) 
• Pinch of Cinnamon (a little bit unconventional for a yellow cake, you can leave it out if you're not crazy about cinnamon) 

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees and put cups into standard cupcake pans. Makes about 24 cupcakes. Using cooking spray on the cupcake liners makes removing the cupcakes from the wrappers even easier. 
2. Cream together the butter and sugar for at least ten minutes with a hand mixer or five to seven in a stand mixer. This step is really important because it will make your cake fluffy and light. The longer you beat, the better. 
3. Add the vanilla and one egg and continue beating until incorporated. Add the two remaining eggs, one at a time, slowly until each is fully incorporated into the mixture. 
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and (if desired) cinnamon. 
5. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the sugar/butter mixture until JUST incorporated. DO NOT overmix or you'll get a rubbery cake. 
6. Evenly spread the cake into pans and bake off for about 15 minutes before checking. Different pans will cook at different times, so if you think you should check sooner, it's better to be safe than have a burnt cake! Take it out when it springs back when pushed or toothpicks inserted in the center come out clean. 
7. Let the cupcakes cool until you can remove them safely from the pan. I like doing this as soon as possible to prevent soggy bottoms on the cupcakes. 
8. Allow to cool COMPLETELY before frosting (or you'll have a puddle of frosting around your cupcakes...I promise you that!)

The Frosting:

• Two Tubs Plain Vanilla Frosting (I know, I cheated. Here's why. Plain buttercream is delicious when it's homemade, but I've found that when I try to pipe it into designs on cupcakes nothing beats store bought frosting. It hardens well and holds its shape during travel or if left out on the counter. So yes, homemade tastes better, so by all means use it if you're not prioritizing pretty (portable) cupcakes. However, if you are looking to bake and distribute your cupcakes, you might want to use the ready made kind.)
• Gel Food Colors (Don't use liquid! It'll make your frosting runny)
• Extra Powdered Sugar (if your frosting turns out too runny or won't hold its shape)
• Candies to decorate! (I used little circular candies that I found right next to the sprinkles in my grocery store and I also used fake malted milk pearly eggs to top them off) 
• Piping bag with a circular and star tip

Here's what they look like in the end to give you an idea while you're working. The directions are below the picture:

1. Mix green food coloring into a large bowl with one of the tubs of frosting. I say use a large bowl because you're going to probably have to add about 1/3 cup of extra powdered sugar to stiffen up the frosting until it holds peaks easily (you might need even more) and this can get pretty messy. 
2. Mix Yellow food coloring with half of the other tub of frosting, and stiffen it in the same way you did the green. 
3. Put a star tip on a piping bag and fill it with green frosting. to make a "grassy" look, push down the tip onto the surface of the cupcake, release a little bit of frosting, then pull up. It's pretty easy when you get the hang of it. Leave about 1/2 inch around the outside of the cupcake for the yellow border afterwards. 
4. Using another piping bag with a plain circular tip this time, pipe a yellow border of single circles around the edge of the cupcake (see picture above) 
5. Use the remaining frosting (you reserved this from the second container when making the yellow) mix your favorite color into the frosting and add a little powdered sugar to stiffen. Place the frosting in a small ziplock bag, cutting a hole in the very tip (fairly small hole). Pipe two or three small flowers wherever you desire on the side of the cupcake. 
6. I used candy pieces to place in the center of all my flowers, if you want, you can use yellow frosting. 
7. Place a candy topper on your cupcakes. You can use any candy, but I wanted to complete the springtime look and put a little fake malted milk egg on tip.
8. Eat and Share!