Candy Corn Mini Cupcakes (October)

Here is my contribution for October's "Cupcake of the Month"...yes, I know I'm a little late posting this but better late than never, right?

Anyway, these adorable little cupcakes come from Molly Jean (aka The Rookie Chef). I think she posted them on Friday and I made them on Saturday morning. Actually, just 2 hours before a Fall Festival we were taking the kids (and cupcakes) to. So, I was a bit rushed when making these but they turned out great and everyone loved them!

I used a doctored up (box)cake-mix recipe and homemade vanilla buttercream frosting. The cake-mix recipe comes from the cookbook Hello, Cupcake and seriously it might be my new favorite cupcake recipe. So easy, but so good! Give it a try next time you need to save a little prep time.

Next time, I'll mix in a little more orange and yellow to make the colors more pronounced.

I used half of the batter to make these regular sized cupcakes. These were a real rush job though, so the frosting looks a bit sloppy...but they tasted great.

Please scroll all the way down for the recipe.
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Here are some pictures of the kiddos on Halloween. They both had a blast and are still on a bit of a sugar high...lord help me :)

The cutest little pirate (my neighbor's daughter) and cowboy Woody (my son).
My kitty cat out on the prowl for some candy.

Candy....here we come!!

Enjoying the fruits of her labor :)

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Ingredients:

1 box (yes box) yellow cake mix
1 cup buttermilk (in place of water called for on box)
Vegetable oil (the amount on box)
4 eggs (instead of amount called for on box)
orange and yellow food coloring

1 can (yes can) white frosting or homemade vanilla buttercream frosting
Candy corn for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare cake batter as directed on the box. Separate batter into two different bowls.
Add food coloring to each bowl of batter until you reach desired orange and yellow colors.
Line your mini cupcake pan with cupcake liners
Pour yellow batter first into your mini cupcake liner. Then SLOWLY add orange batter on top. Bake as directed (about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
To decorate, pipe a small amount of frosting on top of cupcake and add one candy corn.