(Mock) Butterbeer Cupcakes

This was supposed to be a from scratch, Butterbeer Cupcake.  I found the recipe at The Pastry Affair
http://www.pastryaffair.com/blog/2011/7/14/butterbeer-cupcakes.html and was immediately enamored with the idea of both making it for Caleb's party and eating one (or two).

Then, I did a quick search for cupcake liners and lo and behold found these fantastic ones on Etsy!  For only $4.50, the creator emailed them to me so that I could print and cut and tape them myself around the plain white one underneath.  If interested, you can find them at this link
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72949562/harry-potter-cupcake-wrappers-gryffindor?ref=sr_gallery_2&sref=&ga_search_query=harry+potter+cupcake+&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_ship_to=US&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

This is a much easier decorating method than I used to do for my children.  I like to think of it as the evolution of the birthday cake.  For the first five years of Caleb's life, and the first three of his sister Hannah's, they each had elaborate cakes, handmade by me, which usually involved an all-nighter and much pulling of hair and nashing of teeth by the end.  The kids loved the cakes, but no one wanted to be around me.

This Monster's Inc. cake is probably my best work...

A year later Caleb got a Star Wars cake that looked like it belonged on Cake Wrecks and Hannah's cake became the Jackson Pollock rendition of Dora the Explorer (trust me -- no photographic evidence is needed here).  Boxed mix, in a shaped pan, completely decorated by the kids and they LOVED it!  Probably obvious to most, but it was a freeing experience for me to realize my special occasion meals needn't be perfect; that especially for my children, they most cherish the time spent and me letting them make a mess and not complaining about it. 

So back to the cupcakes.  Various events that day left me shorter on time than anticipated, so the cupcakes got downgraded.  Box of Devil's Food cake mix, homemade cream cheese frosting (I still won't compromise on that), and some Trader Joe's salted caramel sauce instead of the butterscotch ganache.

Still delicious and looked decent because of the cupcake liners.  When cooking for your family, even special occasions, there's no reason to stress over taking a few shortcuts.  The love, not the ingredients, is what will be remembered!

For my cream cheese frosting recipe, click on this link to my post about Fool-Proof Gingerbread
http://foodtasticmom.blogspot.com/2011/12/fool-proof-gingerbread-men.html