Dinosaurs were everywhere for our grandson’s birthday party! So many cute decorations and treats!
We have used the “Chocolate Party Cupcake” recipe for our birthday parties for a long time. So of course, we had to continue the tradition for this very important birthday! The recipe is one that Cathy Oesterling shared when we were working with University Extension together. It is delicious! It starts with a chocolate cake mix, but then you add a cream cheese and chocolate chip filling. Topped with buttercream icing and sprinkles, it is perfect for any party. The link for the recipe is below.
Vanilla cupcakes were also an option on the party table. A vanilla cake was the base, then I divided the batter into 3 bowls and tinted the batter in shades of orange, green and yellow. A Color Swirl frosting set was used to swirl the orange, blue and yellow frosting together.
Dinosaur cupcake toppers dinosaur cupcake wrappers and sprinkles – they just scream birthday party!
The Dinosaur Tails were created by dipping pretzel rods in yellow, green and orange melts and then adding chocolate chips, M&Ms and sprinkles for the tail spikes.
Brightly colored Easter Eggs were the “dinosaur eggs.”
I loved the bright colors and the cute little toppers!
The toppers and wrappers were ordered from Amazon-perfect for a toddler’s dinosaur themed birthday party.
What a cute little guy! He had a great first birthday party!
Chocolate Party Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcake
- 1 Chocolate Cake Mix
Cream Cheese Fillings
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips (plus a few more to add to filling layer, if desired)
Frosting
- 1 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 2 pounds powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vanillla
- 1/4 cup sprinkles, optional
Instructions
Filling
- Beat cream cheese, sugar, salt and egg together in a bowl. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place 24 cupcake liners in cupcake pan.
- Prepare cake mix according to directions.
- Fill each cupcake liner approximately 1/4 full of chocolate cake batter. Using a small pitcher to fill the cupcake liners makes it easier – and is less messy than using a spoon.
- Put about 1 tablespoon of filling on top of chocolate layer in the center of each cupcake. Can add a 2-3 chocolate chips to center, if desired.
- Add layer of chocolate over filling, so liner is filled about 2/3 full.
- Bake according to cake mix directions, about 12-15 minutes, or until cupcake top bounces back to touch.
- Let cool in cupcake pan for a few minutes, then cool on a cooling rack.
Frosting
- After cupcakes are completely cool, can frost with your favorite frosting or use the Buttercream Frosting above.
- Cream butter with mixer. Add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy, scraping sides of bowl often, about 2 minutes. Add a few drops of milk at a time, if too stiff and add a little bit of powdered sugar at a time if you want a stiffer frosting.
- Pipe or frost with a knife. Add sprinkles and other decorations, if desired.
