A friend asked me a while ago to bake cupcakes for her wedding reception.
I was both honored by her request and somewhat terrified at the thought of not only baking that many cupcakes, but baking that many edible cupcakes.
Saturday, I spent four hours baking 220 chocolate cupcakes. Actually, there were 227, but seven of them tragically didn’t make the cut and had to be disposed of. (Yum!)
To make 220 cupcakes, I used eight cake mixes which I doctored up with my Grandma’s secret step to making a boxed mix taste fantastic (and I can’t share the secret or it wouldn’t be a secret, now, would it?).
I then made three batches of buttercream frosting which the bride-to-be helped me slather on the cupcakes and top with assorted sprinkles. It only took us about two hours to do the frosting.
While frosting the cupcakes we learned some valuable information:
• There is a perfect temperature for the frosting that is somewhere between chilled and warm. Too cold and it wouldn’t squirt out of the bag and too warm it was really hard to work with. The perfect temperature lasts for approximately 9.8 seconds.
• Making sure the bag holding the frosting is completely sealed before squeezing it is a vital step in the success of the project.
• Husbands are not so helpful when it comes to frosting and sprinkling, but they are super helpful when someone needs to run to the store and get another bag of powdered sugar so another bowl of frosting can be made in the midst of the project. Thanks, CC for coming to the rescue!
• You can create all sorts of cool frosting designs with nothing more than a Ziploc bag and your imagination.
• Approximately two large jars of sprinkles are way more than plenty to do 220 cupcakes. The other 14 pounds of sprinkles I purchased will have to wait for another project.
• It’s always more fun to do projects like this with a good friend!
Here is the buttercream frosting recipe I used. It should frost about 60-75 cupcakes, depending on how much you use per cupcake.
Buttercream Frosting
1 cup butter, softened
1 bag powdered sugar (appox. 8 cups)
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. cold milk
Beat butter on low speed until smooth. Add vanilla extract and mix then slowly mix in powdered sugar, alternating with the milk. You may need to add more milk, depending on how thick you want your frosting. Chill until ready to use. Store leftovers in the freezer (if you have leftovers).
To make the frosting chocolate, I added 1/2 cup cocoa powder and another tablespoon of milk.
She Who is Cupcaked Out for A While
