Monday, March 17, 2014

Green Velvet Cupcakes (and a Big Announcement!)




So, I know you were all wondering if I fell off the face of the earth. Not really, but I have been out-of-the-ordinary busy. To cut to the chase- our family is moving! We are leaving beautiful Colorado (which has been my home for far longer than any other state I've ever lived in) to move to Washington! I am sad to leave our wonderful friends and church here, not to mention the gorgeous mountains, but we will be living close to so much family in Washington that I am also very excited. For the first time ever in my married life I will live closer than a two-days drive to my parents, five of my siblings, my (favorite) aunt and my grandparents. For a girl who absolutely adores her family, it is kind of a dream come true.

    However that has led to more of this:

than I have done in a very long time! Our last move was seven years ago, and we had an 15 month old and a *lot* less stuff! We also took a vacation in the beginning of March to visit my oldest sister (the only one I won't be living near, *tear*). All of that has combined with a million other things to make a hectic month indeed! Needless to say, I haven't been doing much cooking or crafting.

   But I am trying to use up all the food in the house, and when I saw this recipe, and knew I had all the ingredients, well, it was providential! Green Velvet Cupcakes had to be made!  They were so easy, I'm glad I made time for them.

The basic recipe is super simple. You prepare a boxed white cake mix according to the package directions, and simply add 1 tbsp. green food coloring and 2 oz. melted semi-sweet baking chocolate. You finish baking the cupcakes using the directions on the box. That's it! You could really make any color "velvet" you wanted, but I loved the dark green color. In case you were wondering, 1 tbsp. of food coloring is almost two little bottles! I ran out of regular green, so I ended up concocting a mixture of neon green, blue and yellow to get the same results. Just remember, your batter will get darker as it bakes, so don't make it too deep or you will have black cupcakes! I also used a vanilla cake mix, instead of white, so obviously this recipe is very forgiving.

   I didn't care for their frosting recipe, so I ended up adding 1 and 1/2 blocks of cream cheese, tons of powdered sugar, and a little more vanilla to the Cool Whip. These were even more yummy after they had been refrigerated. I didn't have any green sprinkles (I hate those anyway, and remember, moving!) so I used some decorator icing and mint M&Ms to make little shamrocks. I got the adorable chevron cupcake liners at Micheal's last year for a $0.25! Love!

These were so simple, but just adding that little bit of chocolate made them delicious! I personally believe the food coloring adds to the flavor...;)  I know this is late but I couldn't resist posting them, they turned out so cute! Definitely try it- I'm already imaging all the other colors I can make... Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Linked to:
"Turn It Up Tuesday" at Home on Deranged

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