cupcakes for the neighbors - an excuse to bake

Our neighbors (the nice ones) were getting new furniture and asked if we wanted their old couches. First of all, they are the nicest people ever, and second of all, these weren't old couches by any mean. They are so comfy and once you sit down in one of them, you'll never get up. So of course we took the couches and thanked them greatly.

Being the baking opportunist I am, I deemed this a great reason to bake something. I wasn't sure what they liked, or if their kids had any allergies to anything- so basically I was left with blah and boring ideas. Cupcakes- how original can I get? To make it even better, I had a few leftover box cake mixes that I needed to get rid of (these were obviously purchased before I started my baking obsessing).


I think we all know by now that I would never bake a box cake mix just as is. I need to do at least some baking or adjusting to make it not only taste better, but to make me feel better lol. So I made my usual box cake mix adjustments and they turned out excellent!


Hmm.. these sprinkles look familiar don't they? My Fall/Autum Sugar Cookies perhaps? Well yeah, I absolutely needed to get rid of these. I mean- look at the date- it's December already! It's red and green sprinkles time! Thankfully these sprinkels will not go to waste.


I did forget to mention that I made the frosting myself from scratch. Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting to go with the vanilla cupcakes. My first frosting experience was interesting, and even more so was me attempting to pipe them with my crappy piping bag. Either way- the cupcakes got covered in sprinkles so it wasn't that obvious how horrible they were piped.


I hope they enjoyed the cupcakes, because we certainly enjoyed the free couches! lol

---BOX CAKE MIX RECIPE---
Taken from multiple sources and mostly from experience.

1 box cake mix (yes, I use any type of cake mix for this recipe)
1 box instant pudding mix (flavor depending on the type of cake, for this I used vanilla)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

---CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING RECIPE---
I'm not sure where I got this from- it was randomly saved as a memo in my cell phone lol.

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)