Christmas Cupcakes + Lolita Christmas Party

I made cupcakes for the music department Christmas party today--white chocolate cake base with peppermint white chocolate cream cheese frosting. And last weekend, I went to a big Christmas Lolita meetup at Paris in a Cup, which was a lot of fun!

For the cupcakes, I was trying to decide what kind of cake I wanted. I knew I wanted to do a peppermint cream cheese frosting, and to do the candy cane swirls, but I didn't know what to put it on. I was originally going to do a dark chocolate, but then I thought that white chocolate might look prettier. I used Chockylit's white chocolate cranberry cupcake recipe, without the cranberries. It turned out really good! These might just become my staple for a pale cake base. They're dense, almost like pound cake, and with just enough white chocolate flavor to make them interesting without being overpowering. I'm not actually a big fan of white chocolate, but I think it really works with this particular cake.

The frosting was also Chockylit's, from the same recipe page, minus the spices and with a half teaspoon of peppermint extract added. I actually had a lot of trouble with this frosting, because my apartment was so warm--it kept melting! I kept adding sugar, and it never got stiff enough. I finally gave up and frosted the cupcakes anyway. After about an hour in the fridge, the frosting was fine, so I think I've learned my lesson about making frosting in a tiny apartment while the oven is still hot! I'll try it again some other time, and hopefully it will work better.

Sunday was a big Christmas meetup for the LA Lolita community. We all went to a tea shop in Orange called Paris in a Cup. Everyone looked fantastic! A whole bunch of my friends were there, so it was great fun. I didn't really have any outfits I felt were really Christmas-y, so I did the best I could with Heart Marble Chocolate. In the end, I think I looked pretty festive!

Photo (c) my friend Tim

Jumperskirt

Blouse

Capelet

Headbow

Wristcuffs

Shoes

Socks

Necklace 1, Necklace 2