Kupcakes with a K

My favorite event of the year came and went last night. Each year my sorority puts on the beloved philanthropy event, Kappa Kupcakes. It's all you can eat cupcakes donated from local bakeries and made by girls in the house. The proceeds from the event benefit Norman families at the Center for Children and Families Inc., CCFI.

I'm partial to this event because it combines two of my favorite things, Kappa and baking. I'll be honest and tell you, I bookmark recipes all year long when I think they might be Kappa Kupcake worthy. With a busy week and mom cleaning out the pantry for the move, I passed by my bookmarked recipes and came up with some flavors based on the ingredients I already had.

Ready for a secret though...my cupcakes came from a box. Yes I'm a little ashamed, but they turned out so good and could not have been easier! I took a white and yellow cake mix then just spiffed them up to give them a gourmet taste!

I did an almond cake with dark chocolate almond frosting garnished with sugared almonds then a lemon cake with lemon cream cheese frosting. The best things don't always have to be homemade!

Chocolate Almond Cupcakes
yields 12 regular size cupcakes or 30 minis

Ingredients:
1 box Jiffy white cake mix (Jiffy is a family favorite, but any white cake mix would work)
2 tsp. almond extract, half for the cake, half for the frosting
store bought dark chocolate frosting (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 tbsp. sugar

Directions:
First line your cupcake tins with paper liners. Preheat your oven and prepare your cake mix according to the directions on the box. Add 1 tsp. almond extract to the batter. Depending on your cupcake size, fill your tins 2/3 of the way. An ice cream scoop is the perfect amount for regular cupcakes and a cookie scoop is perfect for minis. Bake and then let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: While your cupcakes are cooling, empty your can of frosting into an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Add 1 tsp. almond extract and fluff up in the mixer.

For the sugar almonds: Place your almonds on the stove in a pan over low heat. Add the sugar and stir around until they are slightly toasted and caramelized. Set aside and use to garnish.

Frost, decorate and impress your friends with these easy cupcakes they'll think you slaved away on!

Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
yields 12 regular size cupcakes or 30 minis

Ingredients:
1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix
2 tsp. lemon extract
store bought or homemade cream cheese frosting (my go to cream cheese frosting recipe, just sub the vanilla extract with lemon)
lemon zest or yellow sprinkles to garnish

Directions:
First line your cupcake tins with paper liners. Preheat your oven and prepare your cake mix according to the directions on the box. Add 1 tsp. lemon extract to the batter. Depending on your cupcake size, fill your tins 2/3 of the way full. An ice cream scoop is the perfect amount for regular cupcakes and a cookie scoop is perfect for minis. Bake and then let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: While your cupcakes are cooling, either make your cream cheese frosting r mix 1 tsp. lemon extract into a can of store-bought cream cheese.

I used sprinkles but fresh lemon zest or lemon peels would be perfect to garnish these cupcakes.