I am very nearly done with recounting the cupcake recipes from PT’s Birthday Extravaganza. I probably should have saved the best for last, but I like to keep things interesting, so I’m featuring the popular favorite from that evening (and the mornings after) in this third installment.

This recipe was the amalgamation of inspirations found across the web and in my own dear How to be a Domestic Goddess. I loved the rich dark chocolate and cherry cake that Nigella featured, but I was looking for a more outstanding presentation than the simple, recommended cherry on top.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I am a woman who loves to experiment. The words “oh, just leave it be” rarely cross my lips, and the baking extravaganza that took place in preparation for PT’s birthday party afforded me ample opportunity to flex my experimental muscles.

The Burnt Butter & Sugar Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Ginger Chips was probably my most avant-garde cupcake. A very basic, but delicious cupcake recipe becomes the center of attention with bright green frosting embedded with sugary ginger chips.

It was PT’s birthday a few weeks ago, and I admittedly went a bit nuts in the cupcake preparations. I had fully intended to back a sheet cake sized to feed the 25 party attendees, but after reading Smitten Kitchen’s quite frankly frightening list of do’s and don’ts regarding sheet cake preparation and transportation, I decided that cupcakes would be much more practical…. Three days later, I could be found in my apartment-turned-bakery grooving to Lady Gaga with 3 types of frosting in my hair, surrounded by cooling racks, and stepping across boxes of cupcakes.