Cupcake Tower

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Prepare muffin tins with liners. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Fork-sift dry ingredients together and add alternately with milk to the creamed ingredients until well mixed. Fill 15 liners 2/3 full. Bake about 20 minutes or until cupcakes are brown on top and test done with a toothpick.
Cool and frost with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting. When the frosting is dry, arrange cupcakes in 3 or 4 tiers, building a pyramid that is a cake of cupcakes. Begin with 7 cupcakes arranged in a circle on the bottom. Scatter this layer with M&Ms. Then add a tier of 4, then 3, then 1. Scatter M&Ms and sprinkles to decorate. When serving, keep a knife handy to respread any frosting that sticks to the bottom of the liners.
 

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Add butter and stir until blended. Pour into a mixing bowl. Beat in confectioners’ sugar and salt alternately with a few drops of milk at a time until frosting reaches the proper consistency. Beat in vanilla.