Do-It-Yourself Cupcake Wrappers

It's Tanya again, bringing you Do-It-Yourself Cupcake Wrappers! Now, you can't have a cupcake wrapper without a cupcake to put inside it so today we're working with Fudge Marble Swirl Cupcakes with Hazelnut Cream Cheese Frosting.


First off, as you may or may not know, Nicole has already posted a recipe for Fudge Marble Cupcakes. (And guess what?! That same recipe is in the top 5 hits on Google when searching for Fudge Marble Cupcakes! Hooray!)

After reading through Nicole's version of Fudge Marble Cupcakes I noted she found the recipe a tad frustrating and while she did achieve a marble blend it was almost too blended and didn't offer the visual effect she was hoping for. (Not that any of our taste buds mind.) So, I decided to approach these cupcakes a little differently.

First off, lets start with Nicole's recipe for Classic Yellow Cupcakes. I won't repost it here, in order to save space, but just follow the link and you'll find all the information you need.

I personally swapped the sour cream for milk, because I'm a Budget Baker and we don't really use sour cream for anything else in our family so it wasn't worth buying.

1. Set aside 1 cup of the finished batter and then proceed with filling the tins with the rest of your batter.

2. Mix 1/3 C. of cocoa powder with the 1 cup of set aside batter, until smooth to create your fudge.

3. Then drop a dollop of the "fudge" into center of each filled cupcake tin. Using a butter knife gently swirl the fudge and batter together, taking care not to over mix. (If you over mix there won't be any swirl design or distinctive flavor difference between sections.)

4. Bake according to recipe! Tada! This is an easy way for any budget savvy chef to turn basic cupcakes into fun ones.

In true Budget Baker fashion, I made a last minute substitution to Nicole's wonderful Original Cream Cheese Frosting recipe because I had run out of vanilla extract! In order to replace the vanilla in the recipe I included two Splenda Flavors for Coffee (Hazelnut) packets into frosting. That's literally the only change I made to create Hazelnut Cream Cheese Frosting.

As for the Do-It-Yourself Cupcake Wrappers, well it's as easy as the rest. This tutorial (if you will) comes straight from Martha Stewart herself!

Parchment Paper Cupcake Wrappers
From the June issue of Martha Stewart Living

1. Cut 5-inch square pieces of parchment paper.

2. Spray a muffin/cupcake tin with vegetable oil cooking spray to hold parchment in place.

3. Place 1 piece of parchment into 1 cup of the tin, pressing along folds to crease. Repeat with other cups and parchment pieces.

4. Scoop batter into cups, and bake.

This is what they look like after baking! These wrappers are easy, affordable, and offer a rustic country charm to any cupcakes you bake. I find it's much easier to cool cupcakes because the tall sides of these homemade wrappers allow you to easily slide them out of the pan and cool on a separate rack or counter.

Happy baking, Cupcake Lovers!
Tanya