Cupcake Mess

I love birthdays.  Not mine, of course.  Actually, mine aren't all bad, except for that whole 'getting older' thing.  For now, I'm working on the 'being fabulous' thing, and ignoring the aging. Not sure how long that will work, but so far, so good.

A few years back the kids realized that they got cupcakes on their birthday, but that their parents didn't.  Kind children that they are, they insisted that the adults should ahve cupcakes too.  Aren't they sweet?

Mr. Unwired's birthday just passed, and I bought the most fabulous cupcakes from a local bakery.  The flavors I picked with the help of the one of the kids (always good to have a co-conspirator)  were: Banana Split, Oreo Cookie, Plain with Sprinkles and S'mores.  S'mores was the best.  Plain with Sprinkles was for one of the kids who likes his flavors pure.

But this post wasn't intended to be one about the cupcakes I bought, but more about the ones I made.  I like to bake, and when there's a birthday, there are always people to share the spoils with.  That keeps one fabulous and not looking like the years are getting the best of us (or really, me). 

My inspiration is this delicious book.  Her first book was a gift from a friend, and this one came, uncharacteristically, from my mother.  I think she needed $10 extra on a order to get free shipping, and she knew I had the first book.  In any case, both gifts have been well used and much appreciated.   For Mr. Unwired's birthday party, I opened the book to 'Tie Dye Cupcakes' and never budged.  Since he is a child of the (later) 60s, I figured this was an appropriate homage.  And hey, they looked fun.

They were fun, but they were also a huge mess.  I've never been good at 'fill the tins 2/3 full', so these were too full and they spread into each other.

He's touching me!

Look at this mess!  I used a credit card to scrape off much of the goo between batches, and then used it after the second batch to make the clean-up a little easier.

Where's the kitchen staff when I need them?

Here 's what the second batch looked like-- batter in the pan, and M'n'Ms added.  This time, I followed the directions a little more closely and added more M'n'Ms than the first batch.  These were definitely better!

More chocolate = better cupcakes.  Who would have guessed?!

 Below is a photo of a fairly time consuming decoration... record albums!  You know, the round thing with a hole in the middle that you played on a 'record player?'  Many of our younger guests were very confused when they saw these black vinyl things spinning on a machine and music coming out of the speakers.  Weird!

Half a sandwich cookie, with a small bit of cookie filling rolled into a ball then flattened to make the label.  I added a dot of black frosting for the center hole, as seen in the last image.  Clever... yes?  Also crazy.

The final image.... Tie-Dye Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing, rolled in colored sugar and topped with a cookie 'record'.  Ooooooo,,,,  aaaaahhhhhhh.  Yum!

Dessert worthy of a music loving man and his record-playing party!