12 Days of Christmas ~Day 12~ Cupcakes {Event}

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me…

…twelve cupcakes and a wish for me to Be Merry!

Can you believe it’s day twelve of our 12 Days of Christmas event? If you want to start back at the beginning, and get all of the details, click here!

Here is Kristin’s final 12 days printable, and this completes the set. Click on the image to download.

So for our twelfth day, we have something extra special for you, because today we are introducing our newest WhipperChick, Katie!

Katie is the talented cake artist from Sweet Street Cakes that made the beautiful black and white cake on this table.

She brings you our cupcakes for today!

Double Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

Who Doesn’t love a cupcake? It’s the perfect portion of sweet indulgence. They transcend through every season and holiday, and Christmas-time is no exception. These cupcakes are a double chocolate fudge with red buttercream frosting.

To make your cupcakes, you can use a special family recipe, or you can certainly use your favorite cake mix from the store. One of my favorite things to do is to jazz up a store bought cake mix. You can add any type of chip (milk, semi-sweet, butterscotch, peanut butter, etc.) to your batter to give it a pop of flavor when you bite into it. Or you can add any of your favorite nuts or sprinkles. One of my secrets to a really moist cupcake is to add pudding into my batter. I like to pick an instant pudding that matches my cake flavor, and I add it in with my wet ingredients. Be sure to make the pudding, not just add the powder into it. Do this and your cupcakes will come out moist and irresistible!

For the frosting, I like to use a homemade buttercream recipe. It’s creamy and delicious, and so simple to make. A few tips about your frosting. First, if possible, use a high-ratio shortening. It gives your frosting an unbelievable creaminess. Second, if you want to make your frosting really white, use a clear vanilla extract and replace butter with shortening. And third, don’t forget to sift your sugar. It helps to make the frosting silky and free of clumps.

Red Buttercream Frosting (via Wilton.com)
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or your favorite extract)
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk
1 bottle of Wilton no-taste red food gel
Makes: About 3 cups of icing, enough to cover 24 cupcakes.

Okay, that’s the last of our 12 Days of Christmas! but don’t fret, because we still have the linky party! Come back tomorrow and link up all of your takes on our gifts, or ideas of your own! We can’t wait to see!