In some ways, I wondered if I should count this, but I figured if I counted two different kind of rolls as one project, I could count using a mix as another project. Yes, I used a mix for these cupcakes… but not just any mix…

I had a Sprinkles cupcake mix to use and I couldn’t let that go to waste!!! Sprinkles, and this particular mix, has a special place in my heart. I was obsessed with cupcakes before they became a trend. I know, that sounds really annoying, but it is true! In college, just before the cupcake trend went big, one of my best friends and I stayed up almost all night talking

My cupcake theory of love companion

and formulating what we have come to call the Cupcake Theory of Love. I SWEAR I’ll go into that sometime (hmmm… next year is C’s …. maybe i’ll have a month of cupcakes…) Anyway, that was back in fall of 2004… Sprinkles Cupcakes was launched in 2005 I believe and took LA by storm and with it many other boutique cupcake shops soon followed. My friend and i constantly joked that we missed our window to publish our brilliant theory of love, and cupcakes remained a special joke between us. So much so that he even gave me a cupcake cookbook at my rehearsal dinner for my wedding.

The top of our (homemade) cupcake tower at our wedding!

Not sure why I used a kitchen scale.. or needed such a huge, messy space…

Much cleaner nowadays

But before that, I threw a big old Christmas party the December after I graduated college and was determined to bake Sprinkles cupcakes with this mix that they had. It was the first time I used a kitchen aid all on my own. I was SUPER proud of them. So baking these bring back all sorts of fond memories. PLUS, December without peppermint would just be sad so I was delighted to bake some of these to help celebrate the season.

I felt a little like cheating using a mix for my final project, in spite of my connections to it, but there are a good number of steps to the process. It was much easier and less overwhelming than the first time I attempted this mix and was not sure how long to wait to use the butter after i took it out of the fridge or how to tell if I was over mixing things. I even melted chocolate without it seizing up which is never an easy feat for me. The cupcakes turned out fluffy and a great way to celebrate a family birthday yesterday!!! I ended up making a few adjustments to the frosting because it was too sweet for my tastes, and forgot the peppermint topping at first, but they turned out pretty great!

So that’s it. 42 different baking projects in a little less than 52 weeks.The downside of this little project: I failed a few times and I also gained some weight and astounded myself with how much butter most baked goods call for! the upside: I learned a lot, began making my own bread instead of buying it as much, found a few recipes I will use over and over again, exceeded my own expectations, became a more confident and, when needed, a pretty resourceful baker, and made a lot of people happy with home baked goods throughout the year! I’m going to call it a win 🙂