"I want sprinkles."

Just in case you forgot: it's hot outside. You can almost hear the collective groan throughout Acadiana when the weather man announces the heat index is forecast at 107°F. On days like this (which has been nearly every day, it seems) a big salad for dinner sounds really nice, since heating anything up in the kitchen would be insanity. It's just too hot to bake. And yet it's during these times that I feel an inexplicable stirring within my belly, urging me to "Bake something." Nine times out of ten, I give in.

It's a good thing my pantry is usually stocked with a good selection of baking ingredients, because it was definitely too hot to make a grocery store run. (I buy an embarrassingly large amount of cake mix when they go on sale. Last year I was able to hit up a great deal: 2/$1.00!) Today I wanted something simple and classic, like a yellow cupcake. Topped with chocolate frosting. And sprinkles. Definitely sprinkles. Maybe chocolate cupcakes too.

So...here we go! Yellow cake mix? Check. Devil's Food cake mix? Check. Eggs? Sour cream? Oil? Check, check, and...check. Butter? No. Powdered sugar? Oh snap. I can't make frosting. No worries though--armed with a single can of chocolate fudge frosting (canned!?! Yes, and I'm not ashamed.) and a tub of Cool Whip® I can make enough frosting for TWO batches of cupcakes. Score!

*Bonus points if you can name the site from which I swiped my post title


Fluffy Chocolate Frosting (enough to frost 48 cupcakes!)

• 16 oz. can Chocolate Fudge frosting (or desired flavor)
• 8 oz. tub Cool Whip® non-dairy topping, thawed

Empty frosting into a large-ish bowl. Add a spatula-full of whipped topping to the frosting and gently fold in. If ever there was a time to be dainty, this is it. You don't wanna deflate your puffy frosting now, do you? Continue adding whipped topping gradually, gently folding as you go. Done!