Dad's birthday cupcakes

For my dad's 65th birthday, my mom went a little overboard (I talked a bit about it here...she made over a dozen hors d'ourves!), and seeing as I'm her daughter, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that I make a second birthday dessert for my dad at 9 a.m. before people came over for brunch.  Brunch was supposed to be out at a restaurant with an extensive brunch and champagne cocktails, but at the end, my dad decided he wanted round two of hour d'ourves, and my mom was happy to oblige -- plus she got to serve the remaining tasty treats that she didn't get to serve the night before.

Years ago, through a series of jokes, my father gave himself the nickname of being our "shining light."  And seeing as my dad likes chocolate (I didn't fall far from that parental "tree" either), I made some double chocolate cupcakes with sugar stars on them.  Seemed only fitting on his birthday :)

The cupcake recipe can be found here, and the icing recipe here.