Over the top cupcakes

For the next birthday which was actually before my last post (I'm going backwards!) I made these over the top cupcakes for David.

When asked what his top 3 favorite bakes goods were he said:
"An 18 layer, each layer being no more than 1/2 an inch, milk chocolate, devils food, white, lemon, cherry, dark chocolate cake, alternating layers with a coconut frosting.
Snicker doodle cookies
Angel food cake (with sprinkles none of that plain shit) with sticky frosting"

Someone sarcastically asked for clarification: "Any specific order the layers should start?"


His reply was:
"UMMMM think I explained that"
milk chocolate
devils food
white
lemon
cherry
dark chocolate 

this should continue till you hit 18 layers...not seeing how this is hard"

As you can tell, David is not only a bit of a smart ass, he also has a flair for the dramatic!

I'll admit, I took some help from a box mix on this one. I had gotten a Christmas Funfetti cake mix on clearance, so I used it. Instead of the standard red and green sprinkles that it came with, I used some multi color ones that I had at home.

I frosted some of them with butter cream frosting, some with chocolate frosting and some with both. I was going to swirl them together but you know what they say about good intentions.

Some of them got M&M's on the top, some didn't.

Here is how they turned out.

A side shot

What it looked like in the middle

A top view

Ratings:

Mom - A
It was another fun one to make. They were super sweet and the looked fun.

R2 - A 
These are SO good!

Hank - B
He ate the M&M's and the frosting, he wasn't interested in the cake, at all.


Without further ado, here are the recipes:


The Cake

Ingredients

1 box of cake mix (you could really do it with whatever flavor you wanted)
24 Hershey Kisses (again any flavor you like would work)

Directions

Follow the instructions on the box for baking temp and time. Prepare as directed. After you have the mix in the muffin papers, push the kiss into the center. Don't worry if the cake mix doesn't cover it, it will when it bakes.  

Butter cream frosting  
(modified from the Wilton recipe)

*I made a half batch, so all you would need to do is half the ingredients below*

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

In large bowl, cream butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting  

(after a lot of trial and error with chocolate frosting recipes I found this one at allrecipes.com) 

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.