Black & White Cupcakes

I helped host a bridal shower this past weekend. To save a little money, we all decided to make a batch of cupcakes for the dessert instead of ordering a cake. Since the bride's colors for the wedding are black & white, my friend, Joy, had the great idea to make chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing and then use upside down chocolate chips to look like polka dots. They turned out super cute.

To make all the cupcakes uniform, we decided to use a cake mix and then use the same cream cheese icing recipe. I couldn't find the cake mix we were supposed to use, so I got the closest thing I could find, and it got rave reviews. It was Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge cake mix. I doctored up the icing recipe just a bit, but not too much. The recipe I used is below.

Cream Cheese Icing

Source: adapted from The Way The Cookie Crumbles (whom she adapted from Apple a Day, who adapted it from http://www.saveur.com/)

Ingredients:

16 oz. cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Allow cream cheese to soften on counter at room temperature for about 10 minutes or so. Place cream cheese in stand mixer. Add in powdered sugar. Beat on medium high for about 3-5 minutes, until fluffy. Add in vanilla and salt. Beat for another two minutes. Top cupcakes or cake and refrigerate.