Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake Mix

Since it was the holidays and all, I figured it'd be a good time for me to try out the Sprinkles red velvet cupcake mix that my mom got me from Williams-Sonoma.  I opened up the Pringles-esque container and found cake mix, candy decorative dots, and the REAL recipe, haha.  If you've ever picked up one of these canisters at Williams-Sonoma before, you might notice that they do not include the full recipe on the outside packaging, only the extra ingredients that are needed.  I guess they don't want people to just copy the recipe without buying the mix?  But to be honest I'm not entirely sure why they do this, because presumably you'd need to buy the cake mix inside to make the "official" Sprinkles cupcakes anyway, but oh well.

After a somewhat turbulent mixing process - aka I got bright red cake flour ALL over the counter and even up on top of the stove hood............ - I popped these into the oven and shortly wound up with these little puffy red mushrooms, haha.

Then, after frosting with the cream cheese frosting (not included) and decorating with the candy dot (included):

 

...we've got Sprinkles cupcakes!  Appearance-wise, I think these turned out really well- the domed shape of the cake helped to create a nice and tall cupcake with a swirl of yummy frosting on top.  Overall the recipe was super easy- just be mindful of mixing the bright red flour carefully, haha.   To be honest I liked these much better than the real Sprinkles cupcake I had in LA, but that's because I most likely did not get a fresh-baked cupcake when I went there, haha.  

One possible drawback might be that you're paying $12 for essentially just cake mix.  I'd be inclined to agree, but as a gift, I think it's super cute (and ships well, which is a nice bonus).   If anyone's on the fence about it, I say: wait until seasonal flavors go on sale to try it out (usually the fall flavors go on sale after Thanksgiving), and/or convince someone to get one for you as a gift :o)