31 Days of Tricks & Treats: Thinking Outside the Cupcake Box

I stumbled upon these adorable cupcake boxes this week; how have I never seen these before?! I make cakes and cupcakes for a living! These are truly some of the cutest cupcake boxes I've come across, and I've seen many. They're sized for cupcakes, but could surely house party favors, candy and anything else you care to put in a 3.25" wide x 3.75" high space. They're available in several different kid-friendly themes, but I am in a nostalgic mood today so my favorites are:

Goodnight, Moon Cupcake Boxes!  These. Are. Too. Cute.

Wishing I had a tiny kid at my house right now so I can throw a Little Golden Books party!  Again, so adorable.

But the designs are not limited to nostalgic themes; I love this Safari kids theme that would be perfect for your animal cupcakes:

Safari Friends Cupcake Boxes

You can see more of this cuteness--what a TREAT-- at The Party Works' online cake decorating store or visit them through Sweetest Whimsy's affiliate link:

31 Days of Tricks & Treats: One Week Late!

Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes with my favorite Chocolate Frosting ~ Enjoy!

Well, so much for good intentions!  I enjoyed blogging '31 Days of Tricks & Treats' last year from Sweetest Whimsy's blogs from Paper Dolls and The Sweet Spot.  However, I paid absolutely no attention to the actual calendar all of last week!  I seriously did not; I only changed my paper calendar in my office from September to October yesterday.  Pathetic, I know.

Anyway, better late than never so here we go--today's TREAT (saving the tricks for tomorrow)!  Today's post is an awesome and ridiculously easy recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes!  I don't usually encourage cake mix cakes unless they are particularly good, because baking from scratch takes just about as much time.  However, these are really yummy and I've had total strangers tell me how much they love them.

Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes

(based on a recipe from Chocolate from the Cake Doctor by Anne Byrn)

24 cupcake liners for muffin pans
1 pkg (18.25 oz) German chocolate cake mix (I like Duncan Hines, the recommended cake mix for my Wilton Method cake classes!)
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I sometimes add more for extra cinnamon punch)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line muffin tins with liners.
 2. Place cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon in large mixing bowl.  Blend with electric mixer for 1 minute on low speed.  Stop and scrape down sides of bowl with spatula.  Increase speed to medium and beat 2 more minutes.  Batter should look thick and well combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Spoon batter into liners, about 1/2 full.  Place pans in oven.
4. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or when toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool on wire racks for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pans and cool on wire rack for 15 minutes.

I like to frost them with even more chocolatey goodness, so I use my tried and true Chocolate Frosting recipe and add a little taste of fall to it with some cinnamon.  A teaspoon of cinnamon enhances the entire thing.

I hope you get a chance to try this recipe!  Happy October!