In the mix

As much as I prefer to bake things from scratch, I don't have anything against boxed mixes or the people who use them. they really are time savers, many of them taste quite good, and when they are on sale, they make having treats around very affordable!! A friend came over last evening and brought with her a mix she wanted to make. She is just testing her baking muscles, and knew I would be a willing helper/guide/taste-tester!!

The treat for the evening was this:

Looked good to me!! The package contained mixes for the cakes and the filling. So even with the box, I got to do something from scratch - I made a yummy fudge icing for the tops...

As the cupcakes were baking, I looked at my friend and asked innocently, "What do you think about making the filling chocolate?" Silly question, got the answer I expected. I added some cocoa powder to the meringue powder, whipped it up to nice stiff peaks, and filled the cupcakes. There was a lot more filling than could possibly fit inside twelve cupcakes! We decorated the iced cakes, we made some meringue cookies, and of course we tested the flavor...!
The end results were some very tasty cupcakes! Thy rose nicely, took the filling well, and were so delicious it was hard to stop at just one!!