Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Cream Cheese Frosting...

So this Tuesday is my sister's birthday and being the slacker that I am, I inconveniently forgot to get her a birthday present.  Luckily for me I have a nifty bag of culinary tricks.  So in lieu of baking her an entire birthday cake I went with the ever beloved cupcakes.

I decided to go with chocolate - always a winner.  And looking around the kitchen cream cheese icing was the way to go, plus it's not as sweet as your standard buttercream, and wouldn't you know, that's how my sister and I prefer our frosting.  Of course the most important factor concerning the cupcakes was the color of the icing... dilemmas, dilemmas.

In the end, had to go with pink; and I know that in my shoddy photography work it doesn't come across as a very intense pink, more a pastel - trust me, it was hot pink.

And yes - my frosting piping skills do leave something to be desired, but 1.) I'm not a pastry chef, damn it, and 2.) I was wrangling a niece and nephew at the time.  I also discovered that using a larger pastry tip (or none at all) is definitely the way to go for speed and presentation if your in a pinch for time.  Oh well, lesson learned!

But how did they turn out, you ask?  Delicious - the cupcakes were moist, although they could have been a little more "chocolatey" which will be a future recipe tweak.  But in the end it was all about the icing - damn you cream cheese frosting!  It was oh so good, but oh so horrible for you... recipe to follow - you'll definitely want to try it so you can see what I mean.

Did I mention this was my first foray into cupcake making?  I think I did alright for a first try.  My recipe for the cupcakes themselves was a standard chocolate cupcake which I won't bore you with.  I suppose you could even *shudder* use a box mix.  But again, I think these cupcakes, in the end, were all about the icing, which is prepared as follows...

Ingredients - only four- how easy!

• One 8 0z package of cream cheese at room temperature (your choice of regular, lowfat - whatevs)
• 5 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature (half a stick if you're in a hurry)
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (the good stuff, if you please)
• 2 to 3 cups of powdered sugar, depending on consistency

1. Using a stand mixer/handheld/arms of steel, cream together the butter and cream cheese until it's light and fluffy.  Add in vanilla extract.
2. Slowly begin to add the powdered sugar, letting the frosting build up in volume as you add the sugar.
3. After you've added the first two cups of sugar, check the consistency - in the end it's up to you - how heavy do you want your frosting?  The more sugar you add, the lighter it gets.

At this point, it's ready to be colored, and the sky's the limit pertaining to this aspect.  Use it to decorate your cooled cupcakes or other delicious tidbits or store it in the fridge until you're ready to use it, or just dig into it with a spoon as the case may be.

WARNING: this frosting may induce sugar highs in young children, or anyone for that matter and may cause sugar induced comas or uncontrolled bouts of consumption.  Eat at your own risk ; )  Seriously - this stuff's dangerous!  Enjoy.