I am totally addicted to Pinterest. I cannot even tell you how many times I start a conversation with, “I saw the coolest thing on Pinterest!” Well, yesterday the boys were begging for cupcakes and I had just seen a super cute mummy cupcake on (you guessed it) Pinterest, so I decided to give it a go. The original pin had used chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting piped across the tops, with lots of blank, unfrosted cupcake top shining through. Because my kids prefer white or yellow cake and because unfrosted cupcake tops (even if it is just parts of it) don’t sit well with me, I decided I needed a new plan. I thought that this might be a good time to test out the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix that has been sitting in the pantry for a while and I just so happened to have a new chocolate frosting recipe that I’ve been dying to try (because one can never have too many good chocolate frosting recipes). I put myself to work, coming up with a plan to make the yellow cake cupcakes, frost them in chocolate frosting, pipe vanilla frosting on top for the mummy’s bandages and top everything off with M&M eyeballs. They may not have been the fanciest cupcakes in the world (each one took me less than a minute to decorate) but they were super easy and my boys loved them. The frostings were delicious but the cakes left a lot to be desired. I usually make my cakes from scratch but when I do cave and use a mix, it is almost always Pamela’s. I thought that I would give Betty Crocker’s gluten free a try, but it just didn’t live up to my standards. The cake had a very muffin like consistency and the flavor was blah. I would not recommend this product.

Creamy Dark Chocolate Frosting

Adapted from Bobby Flay’s recipe
Ingredients:

• 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso (I used Starbucks via)
• 7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions:

• Add the butter, confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder to a food processor.
• Process until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
• Add the salt, corn syrup, vanilla extract and instant espresso.
• Pulse until combined.
• Add the melted chocolate and pulse until the chocolate the frosting is smooth creamy (15-30 seconds).

Notes:
**This makes A LOT of frosting, so you will have lots leftover. This can also double as a very good dip for fruits or pretzels.

Quick and Easy Vanilla Frosting (small batch)

Ingredients:

•  1 stick of butter
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2-3 Tablespoons milk (even skim works)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Small pinch salt

Directions:

1.  Throw all ingredients into a bowl and cream together with a hand mixer.

Notes:
**This recipe is really just a guideline. If you want it to be thicker, add more sugar and if you want it to be a bit runnier, add more milk. You can also experiment with adding different extracts. This is my go-to base frosting recipe.