I made these cupcakes for my biology study group last week and they seemed to be a big hit. I'll admit, I used box mixes for both, but doctored them both up a bit. I made the Chocolate Covered Cherry cake from The Cake Mix Doctor as cupcakes (Ignore what's on the back of the box and mix together: chocolate cake box mix, 2 eggs, and a can of cherry pie filling), but made a standard vanilla icing. In the spirit of the holidays, I thought about making some
eggnog cupcakes that I read about on Baking Bites, but thought that might be eggnog overload. I've been on a red velvet kick, so I used a red velvet box mix (with an extra teaspoon of almond extract - love!) and experimented with different eggnog icing recipes with some Pennsylvania Dutch until I finally came up with something I liked. The red velvet eggnog cupcakes went first, but everyone who had the chocolate covered cherry cupcakes said they were the best. I loved them both ;)
Eggnog Icing
-1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
-1 1/2 c powdered sugar
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp almond extract
-Pinch ground cinnamon
-Pinch kosher salt
-1/4 c Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Nog1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Soften butter in a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, gradually mix in the powdered sugar. Mix in remaining ingredients until well blended and fluffy.
After decorating your cupcakes with the eggnog icing, garnish them with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
