Over the weekend we had a good friend celebrating a birthday!  We did several ‘birthday-themed’ things from dinners and drive-ins to drinks and cupcakes.

I’ve had a gift card to William-Sonoma’s for years now so there was FINALLY parking in the Lincoln Park location to shop at that store.  My better-half is a kitchen gadget/knife junkie so he was in heaven.  I love baking and realized that in my moves I misplaced/lost my standard 9X13 cake pan.  I picked up one for $20 – which I thought was a great deal since the quality is much better than a cheaper glass version.

I was planning on making a cake, but then I spotted some special cupcake/cake mixes that WS makes.  They literally had $25 cake mixes….. I couldn’t even think about spending that much money on a cake mix so I saw their cupcake mixes were 20% off for $10.  The Dude suggested Red Velvet so we went for it.  

I loved the recipe – I think I’m going to incorporate the vinegar, buttermilk, and oil into my Boxed-Cupcake Cheat recipe.  It really made a difference in moisture and density.  

The frosting was TO DIE FOR.  I did sub the butter for Earth Balance.  I’ve been trying to incorporate more vegan/vegetarian choices into my diet so not buying butter was a good place to start.  The Dude was concerned about the amount of frosting on each cupcake and usually I agree with this less-is-more frosting ratio, but with this batch I was not going to doubt the people at WS who proportioned the recipes.  People loved the cupcakes (even strangers at The Silver Palm)!  The frosting to cake ratio was just on the edge of being too much so maybe next time I would scale back just a small amount.  In the end the Dude abided and enjoyed a cupcake.