Chocolate Cupcakes with Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting

Wow, that title is a mouthful. Almost as much as a mouthful as the treat itself!
My original plan was to make a Coca Cola cupcake, with cherry icing. However, I made a batch of Coca Cola cupcakes last night and they just turned out funky. The taste was bland, and the recipe called for marshmallows, which gave it a really spongy texture.

So I went to the store today, and just bought a box of chocolate cake mix (because I'm lazy, okay??)
I do have to say that, after making cakes from scratch, the boxed stuff doesn't taste as good anymore!
I had a hard time deciding between buttercream frosting, and cream cheese frosting. And I figured that since I cheated with the cupcakes, I'd go for the cream cheese frosting instead of the buttercream (which I make so often that I could whip it up in my sleep.) The recipe I have made a tooooon of icing, though. As in, I used half of it, MAYBE. So the recipe I'm giving you is halved for your convenience.

The frosting was still a liiittle on the runny side, which disappointed me because it piped out so beautifully, then sort of..sank together. But hey, there's sprinkles!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe:

Cupcakes

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix (I used chocolate fudge)
• 1 1/3c water
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• Cupcake liners

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
• Beat with electic mixer on low for 30 seconds, then medium/high for one minute, until fully blended.
• Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Pour batter into the cups until 1/2-3/4 of the way full.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Frosting

• 1/2 package (4 oz) of cream cheese, softened
• 6 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4c cherry juice
• 1/2 bag powdered sugar (plus a little more, to get the right consistency)
• Red food coloring (2-3 drops)
• Red sprinkles for accenting

Preparation

• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy.
• Slowly beat in cherry juice, until mixture is smooth and creamy.
• Gradually beat in powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want. (Very thick if you plan to pipe it!)
• Beat in the food coloring to get a pretty pink color-- Beat well.
• Frost onto cooled cupcakes, using a knife or piping bag.
• Sprinkle with red sprinkles if desired.