For those of you who have followed this blog for any time at all, you know that I have a pretty snobby aversion to boxed cake mix and pretty much any and all convenience food. That’s not to say that I don’t still have my favorites (Rotel dip, Dean’s French Onion Dip, store-bought Hawaiian bread, etc.) but generally speaking I’m of the opinion that anything you can make from scratch is not only better for you, but it almost always tastes better. Way better.
Once in a while, I do come across a recipe from the “convenience” genre that just blows me away. I’ve selected a few of the more popular recipes circulating on Pinterest lately and decided to give them a try. Some were good, some were really, really bad. This particular recipe I declared a success. And it’s just a doctored-up boxed cake mix.
These are frosted with white chocolate buttercream which is really, really easy to make. I garnished them with those super cute pink Sixlets chocolates and of course, the fabulous mini-poms on a stick. These were made for a baby shower, and I just love how fun and whimsical they are. These are jumbo cupcakes, so this particular recipe made 12 cakes, but it would easily make 24 standard cupcakes.
Which brings me to this: I have to admit that I have a new obsession. And it’s kind of a problem. You see, a few months ago, one of my very favorite stores closed it’s doors – it was the most adorable little kitchen supply store and I was just completely heartbroken when they shut their doors. But, my prayers were answered when, in its place, opened an even more AMAZING baking supply store. I bought my first jumbo cupcake/muffin pans and I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to make a standard size cupcake again. Plus, they have a wonderful assortment of cupcake liners, sprinkles, flavorings, etc. AND, it’s only minutes from my office which means many a lunch hour will be spent there – but that’s good for you because the more cute cupcake liners I buy, the more I have to bake, which means the more I have to blog. 😉
So – moral of the story: not all cake mix recipes are bad, jumbo cupcakes are good, and you need to make these. Soon.
Enjoy!
Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream
Yield: 12 jumbo or 24 standard cupcakes
Cake Ingredients:
1 (18.25 oz.) package German Chocolate Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines)
16 oz sour cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat at low speed with an electric mixer just until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase speed to medium, and beat 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth, stopping to scrape bowl as needed.
Place paper baking cups in muffin pans, and coat with cooking spray; spoon batter evenly into baking cups, filling each two-thirds full.
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove cupcakes from pans to wire racks, and cool 1 hour or until completely cool. (For my jumbo cakes, I baked 30 minutes at 325°.)
Frosting Ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 oz white chocolate (chips are fine)
1/3 cup plus 3 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream, divided.
5 cups powdered/confectioners sugar
2 Tablespoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth, light and fluffy. Meanwhile, heat 1/3 cup of whipping cream in microwave until steaming hot but not boiling. Pour hot cream over the white chocolate and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Then, whisk the cream and white chocolate until smooth. Set aside or refrigerate to cool. Add powdered sugar to butter and pulse until moistened. Add remaining whipping cream, vanilla and salt and beat until fluffy. Add cooled (at least room temperature) white chocolate to the frosting and continue to beat until combined. If frosting is too runny, add powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until desired consistency is met.
Frost cooled cupcakes, and garnish as desired.
Enjoy!
Source: Cupcake recipe courtesy of Southern Living.
Question do you have lots of leftover icing or is that icing just enough? I’ve only ever made chocolate icing (the one on the hershey’s cocoa canister) but would like to start making buttercreme icing. Thanks!
@BeeBubbaBella Well, it depends. I use a LOT of frosting on my cupcakes because I pipe them. This made about 5 cups of frosting and I proably had a cup left over. Had I made 24 standard cupcakes, I probably would’ve had very little left over. I do purposely try to make too much, because I would really hate to run out with cupcakes left unfrosted. I have found that if you are piping the frosting on, you generally need about 4-5 cups of frosting per 24 cupcakes. If you aren’t piping but just hand-frosting, you could easily cut the recipe in half. Hope this helps!
I love the mini poms on a stick. Is there a tutorial on how to make them? Thanks!
Yes, but not in this post. I included a link to a tutorial in this post: http://www.lemon-sugar.com/2011/06/devils-fudge-cupcakes.html
They’re really pretty easy to make after you get the hang of it. I just used hot glue to attach them to the popsicle sticks. Hope this helps!
Wow, thank you for your fast response! Your idea to use these on cupcakes is just adorable!