Cupcake Technique, Jazzing up a box cake and other dessert planning issues

[Marley]

I'm having a gathering for 30 people--20 adults and 10 kids. I need input on dessert.

1-- Icecream cake (for all) -- least work/expensive
2-- Bakery cheesecake for adults-best in the city / cupcakes made by me for the kids = Some cost/some work
3-- Cupcakes for all with icecream on the side = Cheapest option/more work

Kids Cupcakes
If I do a box cake for the cupcakes.... is there a way of jazzing it up? I haven't made them in over 2 decades and am only going with them for efficiency sake. Can I sub in something good to make them yummier? I was thinking yogurt? And can I sub in something healthy--like applesauce instead of oil--and get the same result? Are all box cake brands created equal?

Adult cupcakes
And if I do cupcakes for everyone I'd like to do fancier cup cakes for the adults. I'd make 48 cup cakes maybe with 4 different varieties (My cupcake tin makes 12). I love this idea because I could do:

Yellow box cake/heavy frosting = Basic for the kids
Pumpkin cupcake with a glaze = Adult friendly
Something with coconut or pineapple = Caribbean theme
Red velvet cupcake w/cream cheese frosting = Crowd pleaser

[helloimkaley]

I made a box cake and put ice cream IN the cake mix (a pint of ice cream instead of oil/water/butter) and it turned out AWESOME. Lots of a extra flavor and SUPER moist.

I also like to use marshmallow fluff for topping, try mixing it with frosting or cool whip.

[helloimkaley]

Oh! And it's applesauce instead of eggs if you wanted to do that. I saw you mentioned replacing the oil with it, but it's normally the eggs that are replaced (to make things vegan)

[Marley]

I've been wondering how your cake came out. Did you take a picture? I am headed to party city to see what kind of toppers I can get if I go the cupcake route. I will google marshmellow fluff. It sounds very kid friendly!

I have replaced oil with applesauce but never eggs. I will read up on this as well. Don't want to make the cake vegan just want to eliminate the oil.

[helloimkaley]

Makes sense. I don't have any pictures of the finished product, but it turned out just like a normal cake, just much more flavor and moist. It was awesome. It needs to cook for a long time, though. But since it's cupcakes, probably not as long as it took mine (45 minutes).

And you can mix and match the ice cream and cake mix - chocolate cake with mint ice cream, vanilla with various fruits, etc.

Very kid friendly, and very fun for them.

And you don't need to keep them refrigerated if you make them with ice cream, everyone was very confused on that at the party.

[Marley]

Hmmm... I am going to do a test run maybe. Can you post that recipe again? Thanks!!!

Dd is not into flavors so it would probably be a yellow cake with vanilla icecream. I might go with the Trader Joes brand and skip all of the healthy subs.