Butter Pecan Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Aaaah Yummy!!

I was in the mood for cakey sweety chocolatey goodness so this is what I made.

And I can spell. I just like making up my own words. Cakey. Webster's Dictionary, here I come!

BUT all I used for the cake was a Super Moist Betty Crocker butter pecan cake mix. Super easy, super quick. Sorry it's not from scratch. I didn't add any pecans, but if  you were to add pecans this cake would be even more delish. 

Delish. Dictionary addition by Melba #2.

Preheat your oven, put those paper liners in your cupcake pan, mix your ingredients (water, oil, eggs, cake mix), pour it up, and bake those puppies!

But don't bake your puppies. That's just mean. And cruel. Moving on.

The icing is what I make from scratch. I've used different recipes for different decorating purposes, but all I wanted today was some good 'ol buttercream. Chocolate buttercream, that is. This is a standard Wilton recipie, and you can use water instead of milk, but milk just makes it creamier. And more unhealthy for you. But nobody cares about healthy icing. Well maybe. Well yes. But that's something I'll try later. On to unhealthy icing.

1/2 cup shortening

1 stick unsalted butter (but if you swear by salted, then use it)

1 teaspoon clear vanilla (normal vanilla is fine since you're not worried about it tinting the icing)

3-4 tablespoons milk

3/4 cups cocoa

1 lb. (about 4 cups) powdered sugar

The shortening, FYI, can be bought in sticks instead of a can (thank-you, Crisco!) and is so much easier to use than the messy dip-it-out-of-the-can-with-a-measuring-spoon technique. LOVE.

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl until smooth. The more milk you add, the thinner the icing will be. Start with 3 tbsps then add more if you want it thinner.  

Add the cocoa gradually unless you want it to *POOF* everywhere when you turn the mixer on. Beat until smooth, scraping the sides with a spatula. 

Add the powdered sugar gradually, mixing thoroughly between adds. Add, mix, add, mix until it's all in there and beaten together and creamy. You're looking for a medium consistency. Thin enough to spread, but thick enough to hold up while decorating.

Now, on to the decorationating.

Decorationating. Dictionary addition #3.

Using a decorating bag (or you can use a food storage bag), cut off the corner enough for the tip to show through. I am using a 1B tip which is a fairly large star tip. You can buy decorating tips from Michael's, Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, or where ever you get your artsy supplies from.

Turn the edges over so you can add the icing to the bag with a knife. Or spoon. Or spatula. Just so long as it gets in.

After the cupcakes have cooled for 10 mins, spread a thin layer over the top. It doesn't need to cover the whole thing. Just enough for the rest of the icing to stick.

The end product is called a rosette. To make a rosette on your cupcake, hold the bag in your R hand (or L if you're a lefty) and the cupcake in the other. Start at the back and squeeze the bag to get a steady flow of icing, then slowly move in a clockwise circle and around and around until you're at the top! Then squeeze and release to form a point at the top. This is all done in 1 squeeze of the bag. 

Practice, practice, practice! I didn't get this right my first time - you just have to keep trying until you get it!

Continue to make rosettes on all your cupcakes. Like I said, practice! But if you don't want rosettes on them all and just want to start eating the icing, like I did, then that's ok too. 

But you won't have enough to finish. 

And I didn't have enough to finish. 

Oh well.

Happy cupcaking! Let me know how yours turn out!

Cupcaking. Dictionary addition #4.

Betty Crocker, Crisco, Hersey's, and Wilton do not know who I am. They do not pay me to push their products, I just happen to use them in my baking. I give all credit to them where it is due and take none for myself.