Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates...

Happy Birthday, Jamie! In honor of the BIG "Twenty-17" as Madeline would say, here are some delicious chocolate cupcakes decorated like a box of chocolates (love my cupcakes cookbook Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson, and all the fun ideas in it)!Well, and then I had to do something fun with the rest of the cake batter, so there's a nice gift box of treats to go with it—and who doesn't need a box of cupcakes to celebrate their birthday with?
For the cake, I used a recipe from Martha Stewart that I've heard great things about...

One Bowl Chocolate Cake
From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook (adapted, as usual)
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 c. warm water
3/4 c. buttermilk
3 Tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven 350-degrees F. Spray with cooking spray - two round 9-inch cake pans, one 9x13 pan (or 18 mini cupcakes, and 12 standard sized ones); set aside.

In the Kitchenaid, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Batter will be fairly thin.

Bake about 20 minutes (less for mini cupcakes). Transfer to a wire rack to cool.