Things started out like the usually do- with my favorite Duncan Hines mix. Literally the best chocolate cupcake you'll ever have. Prepare them according to box directions, and before you put them in the cupcake liners, fold in a teensy bit of of chocolate- I like Cadbury milk chocolate bars for this.
Once again, I was unable to decide on a frosting flavor. I conducted a few polls again at work for people to choose between Nutella and Oreo frosting. Nobody could really choose, because they both sounded absolutely fantastic. So after a quick trip to the store, I was prepared to make both. I usually have a little of extra batter left from the two boxes of cake mix, so I just made a couple of pans of mini cupcakes with that. My idea was to use the Oreo frosting for the big cakes and the nutella for the minis.
I started with the Oreo buttercream. I let out a few frustrations and smashed a pack of oreos with the back of a frying pan. I tried to get them as fine as possible, without having to break out the food processor. I decided to use a little cream cheese in this frosting to break up some of the sweetness from the oreos and the sugar. Let me tell you- this tasted absolutely divine. Honestly, what could be bad about it? Nothing.
So after that was done- I started on the Nutella. At least 1/4 of the people I asked about their opinion on the flavors, had no clue what Nutella was. I couldn't even believe it. How had these people not tasted the most fantastic spread ever? I have no clue. Anyhoo, I started with my basic buttercream recipe, and added the nutella that I had softened in the microwave for like 40 seconds. While they were both resting in the fridge, I made a few little spring time decorations:
White chocolate (with rainbow crystal sugar) butterflies and cute little white chocolate flowers. I used a mold that I ordered from amazon & different colored candy melts from Michael's. They are a pain to make, but they look so cute!
So here's when things started to get a little crazy. I'm all set to start frosting with the Oreo, and then...nothing. It would not come out of the frosting tip! So I figured it was the tip I was using, so I switched them out and....still nothing! So instead of getting more frustrated, I switched over to the Nutella. Things seem to be going well until the frosting got melty and I had to refrigerate them for a little, so they wouldn't melt off of the cakes.
While frosting, I was thinking of what went wrong with this absolutely delicious Oreo frosting, and I figured it out. I needed to use the food processor to get the cookie crumbs super fine. It was the pieces of cookies that were getting caught up in the piping tips. Lesson learned. But I will totally be trying that recipe again.
It was pretty late at this point, but I still had all those minis to deal with. My sister suggested that I just frost them with an offset spatula, and roll them in some left over cookie crumbs, so they wouldn't look that "ghetto." LOL. So that's what I did, and they came out great!
These went like hot-cakes! Once again, I used them to lure in the good looking men passing by in the hospital hallways...one of these times it'll work!
Even though there were a few mishaps, it has helped me learn and now I know what I have to change and work on for next time.
Well I hope everyone enjoys their holiday and time with the family. I know I will! Easy on the sweets- they'll be plenty more to come!
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