Graduation Cupcakes

Congratulations to the class of 2013! What better way to celebrate graduation than with cupcakes???

Idea from here. 

For the cupcakes:

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 ¾ cup cake flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line about 16 muffins tins with papers.

Cream the butter and the sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.

Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cupcake liners about half way. (You don’t want too much batter in each, or the cupcakes will be domed.)

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.  

mmmmm cake batter...cookie scoops work really well when making cupcakes!!!

For the frosting:

½ stick butter, room temperature

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream the butter. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until you get a frosting consistency.

For the hats:

Reese cups

Squares of chocolate (I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate caramel squares)

To assemble:

Put some of the frosting in a Ziploc bag and pipe onto the cupcakes. Cut a fairly big corner into the corner to pipe through.

For the hats, put a dab of frosting on the bottom of a Reese cup and use this to glue it to the chocolate square. Use some frosting piped through a TINY hole cut in the corner of a Ziploc bag to fashion the tassel.

Put the hat onto your cupcake!

The graduates...they look so scholarly!

~Elyse