Friday was Mikey's 30-something Birthday and we celebrated his getting-older-day with LOTS of food, goofy gifts, and an evening out with a group of 20+ friends.
At about 3PM my Martha Stewart cupcake baking gene kicked in and I went on a cupcake-experimenting spree. 
It was pretty funny walking into the restaurant with 100+ mini cupcakes in 5 different varieties. While signature ugly carrot cake is the standard favorite for birthdays, this went over pretty well. It's so easy to share mini-cupcakes and it was fun because we got to try a bunch of different kinds. We will need to be going on a diet after this weekend!
Here is what I managed to mix up:
Oreo Cupcakes had cookie crumbles in both the cake AND the Icing
White Chocolate cupcakes were one of my favorites. I melted Ghiradelli white chocolate to use in the frosting which surprisingly also had cream cheese in it to mellow out the sweetness.
The Key Lime Cupcakes I made on accident. I thought for sure Mikey loved Key Lime, but I was wrong! LOL. I don't particularly care for it either so I made some just-coconut and I actually enjoyed it. Fluffy and light. The meringue on top is made with egg whites and I had to make it twice because the first time I forgot to shake the egg-white carton and got mostly water. Opps!!
The next batch I call French Hazelnut Chocolate Cupcakes. They are injected with Nutella. MMMMMMmmmmm. I made a Ganache for the first time too and it was actually pretty easy. We had it in our wedding cake and now I'm addicted! Once the ganache cools a bit you simply dip the cupcakes in it - you don't need much because it's really rich!
Last but not least, Butterfinger Cupcakes! These were Mikey's favorite since it's his favorite candy and like the Oreo ones they have candy infused into the cake and icing. VERY sweet. Mmmm. We're out of these or I'd be eating one right now.
I used box mix as the base for ALL of these recipes so it was actually very easy and fun experimenting with adding in puddings, candies, and spices. Splitting the batter in half and using one mix for two different types also allowed me to make a variety without having 500 little mini cupcakes tempting us for weeks!
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