Devil's Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
What you need:
For the cupcakes:
- 1 box Devil's Food cake mix
- 1 box (5.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding (chocolate fudge is good, too!)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 Tbsp. strawberry syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
- For the cupcakes: mix all ingredients together - I used my trusty KitchenAid on the stir setting.
- Scoop batter into a muffin pan lined with cupcake tins - around 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes at 350* or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Sometimes I like to rotate them at 15 if they aren't quite done yet. Just for good measure.
- Let the cupcakes rest in the pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. Let cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting: cream the butter first, then add syrup, vanilla, and salt. Don't worry if it looks like a gloopy mess - it'll come together!!
- Add powdered sugar little by little and beat until fluffy and smooth.
- Add frosting to a piping bag fitted with a tip, if desired, and pipe onto the cooled cupcakes. I did mine with an open star tip and made it look like a rose. Then I sprinkled on some pink sanding sugar for good measure :) Decorations are up to you!