White Hot Chocolate Cupcakes: Bringing Christmas cheer to those on duty : (

Thankfully, Nate did not have duty (for those non-military: duty is a 24 hour work shift so that the boat is able to operate at all times while in port) on Christmas!  But, 8 poor souls did!  So, I made white chocolate cupcakes with a hot chocolate buttercream frosting to bring a little Christmas cheer to an otherwise bummer of a day.

White Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting: Merry Christmas Tahoma!

This is Nate's favorite cake, made into a cupcake!  This is a white chocolate cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting, topped with crushed candy cane.  When the candy cane sits on the frosting, it softens and give a delicious, but not overwhelming, peppermint flavor - a trick I learned from Grandma!

Chocolate Orange Cupcake: A Tribute to Terry's Tradition

Every Christmas growing up, Santa would put a Terry's chocolate orange in my stocking.  Making these cupcakes was nostalgic.  They are an orange cupcake with an orange and chocolate cream cheese frosting.  If a chocolate orange could be a frosting, it would be this one!  I made these cupcakes to welcome Nate home, home in time for Christmas!