Cupcakes: Emphasis on Cup

When I left my job back in April, I wanted to do something for all of the kind people that I had worked with over the past year. I know food is the way to my heart, and I hoped the same would be true for them. So I baked.

Unfortunately, we had already packed up all of our belongings and moved in with a friend so I had to get creative with my baking. I really didn't want to buy an entire bottle of vegetable oil or a dozen eggs just for a simple box cake. (Let's be real here: I'm too scared to attempt a from-scratch cake so I use the excuse that I don't have all of the ingredients needed.)

I knew that I had seen a recipe somewhere on Pinterest that boasted a recipe that included a box cake mix and soda. I wondered if this could be the answer to all of my hopes and dreams and decided to make it happen.

Just to be safe, I hadn't mentioned to any of my coworkers that I was planning to bring baked goods in case my attempts went down in a fiery mess.

I searched all over for the recommended cake mix and soda flavor (they should complement each other) but I had no luck so I decided that I would try a white cake with Sprite as my soda. Plus, my mouth started watering when I thought of drinking a Sprite and I knew I could drink the leftovers.

Pros: 

• Holy cow was this recipe easy
• It tasted like a cake!
• Did I mention it was easy to make?

Cons:

• Kind of thick like it was almost too moist. 

Verdict:

Via

I would definitely make this again, especially if I was in a pinch for ingredients! 

Now, for the cup emphasis of cupcakes.

Also on Pinterest, I saw what looked like an adorable way to package these cupcakes. It sounded easy enough, buy some clear plastic cups, plastic lids, and voila! Sounds easy enough, right?

Via

However. I ran into three problems. First of all, my Wal-Mart didn't sell lids in increments less than 1,000 so I thought I would wrap them up with individual cellophane wrappers. Second, those cellophane wrappers are expensive so I bought those plastic fold over sandwich bags. Third, I bought cups that were too tall. 

Also, in hindsight, I should have iced the cupcakes before dropping them in the cups. I had a way too high icing to cupcake ratio. 

My cupcakes only partly filled up the cups, but not enough to put a third cupcake in there so they looked a little strange. 

If I had to do it over again, I might have either followed the directions for the cupcakes in a cup or just handed people their cupcakes.