Cupcakes Galore

I love cakes. But I have never been a fan of frostings. Not that I don't like frosting. I think have a frosting phobia.
Until I saw all the beautiful and versatile cupcakes on Love and Olive Oil blog. I swear, her cupcakes make my mouth water.
So, I decided to get over my fears and off to the kitchen I went. Needled to say, my kids are my little taste testers and by now I am sure that they have frosting running through their veins :-) Luckily - they have friends always willing to try out my experiments....

My first experiment was with these chocolate - cheese swirl cupcakes with chocolate frangelico frosting.

 I used the recipe for the cupcakes from "Its Never too Late to Live Happily Ever After" blog omitting the chocolate chips.

And the frosting was made like this:

For Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 1/2 - 3 cups confectioners' sugar
1-2 tablespoons frangelico liqueur
2 tablespoons cream 

DIRECTIONS:

For frosting, cream butter until smooth and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add in cocoa powder, along with 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. Beat until combined. Beat in frangelico to taste. Continue adding sugar 1/2 cup at a time, adding cream as necessary, until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

My next venture were the prettiest ping sparkly cupcakes Tequila Sunrise, raiding the family bar (I am so happy that I splurge on alcohol that we never drink). I did omit the orange zest because 1) my kids hate the zest. 2) my orange looked a little old.

It's my sister's birthday this week...have to think of something extra special for my extra special sister!