Chocolate Cupakes with Creamy Mint Frosting!

Easy chocolate cupcakes with delicious mint frosting! There are two flavor collisions that I just die for one being chocolate and peanut butter and the other chocolate and mint! I can never get enough of it! This is the first time I have attempted to make home made mint frosting so I whipped it up the easy way! The cupcakes were moist and I could not stop eating the frosting!

To start you will need to make a chocolate cake out of the box (chocolate or devils food). My secret is to add a box of chocolate pudding into the mix to make them moist!

 

While you mixing add 1/4 teaspoon of pure mint extract to add the hint of mint in the cupcake!

I bought these super cute cupcake liners the other day!

Place cupcake liners in pan

Use ice cream scoop to evenly fill each cup. Batter will be thick because of the pudding.

Bake as directed. Look how yummy they look! Remember to leave them in pan for 10 minutes than move to rack for cooling. While you wait you can start making the frosting. Soften 4 tbsp. of butter and mix with a cup of powder sugar. Add 2 tbsp. of milk and 1 more cup of powder sugar. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract and a couple drops of green dye for light mint green coloring.

Frost cupcakes! I think I would  use less green dye next time unless I am celebrating St. Patricks Day! These are chocolately and minty delicious! Enjoy.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

1 box of chocolate cake mix

1/4 teaspoon of Mint extract

1 box of instant chocolate pudding


Mint Frosting:

2 cups powder sugar

4 tbsp. soften butter

2 tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. Mint extract

Couple drops of green dye

Colorful Cupcakes- Fun and Flirty!

These cupcakes were so girly and cute! The best part is how easy they were to make! I have seen this technique done before on several websites so I was excited to try them on my own! The best part is that every cupcake is unique! You never know what type of pattern you will see when you bite into them! I baked these for a Mother's Day gift but I could see these being a great dessert for a baby shower or a little girls birthday party! All that is missing is some sprinkles!

For this recipe you will first need a white cake mix in a box.

Make as directed

Separate batter equally into three containers. If you want the cupcakes to be more of one color than put more batter in one container.

Pick two colors to dye the batter. I love Betty Crocker Neon gel colors because there bright and easy to work with! You may also separate the batter into more containers if you want to do more colors!

Place cupcake liners in pan

Mix in colors. I kept one container plain because I wanted white in my mix!

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners in a pattern or you can layer randomly. I love the colors swirled together here!

Bake as directed on the box. Look at the colorful cupcakes rising! While they bake you can start the frosting. I used the same cream cheese frosting for my Lemon Cupcakes but instead of lemon juice I used vanilla extract. Then I dyed it beautiful purple! Remember to wait for the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting!

Take a bite and enjoy the art! Each cupcake is unique!

24 fun and flirty cupcakes ready to be devoured!

I liked to leave a little room around the cupcake so you could see the swirl of colors.

They are so pretty and the best to come is when you take a bite! Enjoy!

Colorful Cupcakes

1 box of white cake mix

Food coloring

Cupcake liners

Frosting:

2 tbsp. Butter

1/2 package powder sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

half package of cream cheese

Mix until you reach desired consistency

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Fresh strawberry jam! How can you resist the ripe red color and the yummy fresh taste on toast, waffles, rolls ect! You have to also love the fact that there is no preservatives or high fructose corn syrup!  I love home made jam but this was my first time making it and it was pretty easy as long as you follow the directions! I made this at a friends house (Thanks Steph!) who happens to be a pro at this! She kept the spoons mixing as I took pictures! I hope you enjoy this yummy jam throughout the year or give it as gifts for mother's day or Christmas!

Tips:

Don't double your batch, it could cause the jam to not set up properly! Instead go through the process twice rinsing bowls and pans each time! It's important to rinse the pot after each sure jell use or else it will turn into black flakes if you use the same pot again.

Also follow the instructions exactly!

I have enough in this picture for 2 batches!

4 cups sugar

1 box sure jell (Walmart/Smiths in gelatin aisle)

2lbs whole strawberries (I bought the 4lb box at Costco)

Three 16 ounce containers. I use the Ziplock brand that is twist and seal. (They come in boxes of three so I bought two boxes for 2 batches of jam).

First rinse strawberries

Cut off the stems

Slice in half if small. Mine were huge so I sliced into fourths!

Place halved strawberries in a bowl.

Fill your processor half way with strawberries and puree. You may leave it more chunky if you would rather it less smooth. You may also use a potato masher if you don't have a processor.

Measure 2 cups of puree strawberry into a mixing bowl

Add four cups of sugar. Stir for five minutes until smooth.

Let sit for 10 minutes (Set a timer). When your two minutes away from being done start boiling 3/4 cup of water in a pan.

Once boiling add the sure jell and stir for one minute. (Timer helps!) 

Then pour hot sure jell into the strawberry/sugar mixture. Stir constantly for 8-10 minutes until the  sugar is dissolved and the mixture is no longer grainy. You can take a spoon and taste test every few minutes to see if the sugar has dissolved and it taste smooth.

Once smooth pour into three 16 ounce containers! As you can see I did the whole process twice so I had six! Let sit on counter at room temperature for 24 hours  until it is set. Then store in freezer or keep one out in the fridge. Yummy jam that will last for a year!

To make one batch of jam:
2 cups purred strawberries (about 2 pounds)

4 cups white sugar

1 box pectin (Sure Jell)

Food Proccesor or potato masher

1 large mixing bowl

1 small mixing bowl

1 small sauce pan to boil pectin

Mixing spoon

Containers (safe for freezing) and lids