CUPCAKES!

I decided today was the perfect day to do some baking. I've been itching to use my kitchen aid mixer again and cupcakes sounded like a good excuse to use it, that an as an overdue birthday present to fiance.

The last time I baked cupcakes, I wasn't all that impressed with our cake recipe so I decided to give a new one a try, one from my Better Homes and Gardens baking book. I found a recipe for devils food cake that sounded like it may work.
I could post the recipe, but the way more exciting part is how they turned out, so here they are:

Pictures of my yummy cupcakes:

Coffee Flavored frosting, coffee bean garnish on chocolate cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes with either chocolate frosting or neon pink vanilla frosting, or some combination of them. Some garnished with fresh raspberries.

I've never tried making my own coffee flavored frosting. I just happened to have part of a cup of cold coffee on hand that needed to be put to use. I added it to some of my frosting and then added powdered sugar to get it back to the proper consistency. I chilled a test cupcake and then tried it. YUM! I think it's my new favorite cupcake. Too bad I'm the only one who'd eat them! For that reason, I only frosted 4 of them with the coffee frosting and will be taking 2 to work tomorrow.

On the neon pink cupcakes and the bedazzled ones, I used a plastic tip and my ghetto version of a pastry bag (ziploc bag, hole cut in the corner, plastic tip through hole) to achieve the fancier looking frosting.

YUMMY!