On December 9, 2017 at 3:11am, I started playing Doki Doki Literature Club after finishing watching Jack Septiceye play it. Roughly four hours later, I'd completed it, having gotten a perfect run and the true ending on my first try. The experience had quite an impact on me, and every year since, I've celebrated that special day. By the end of my experience with the game, I was completely in love with it and its characters, especially Natsuki, whose love of baking inspired me to make these cupcakes each year, so every December 9, I bake, decorate and enjoy a full set of DDLC-inspired cupcakes! If you'd like to replicate what you see here and celebrate your own Dokiversary with them, just follow the steps below!

Ingredients:
- 1 box of Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup of cooking oil
- 1 1/4 cups of milk or water (I recommend milk for even tastier results)
- 2/3 cup of milk chocolate chips
- 1 container of Betty Crocker French vanilla frosting
- Red, blue, green and pink decorative frosting tubes
- 1 tube of black decorating gel
- 1 package of hot chocolate and marshmallow Hershey Kisses (a limited-time treat usually available November through January--use regular Kisses if your Dokiversary is during any other time of the year or you just can't find these ones anywhere)

Recipe:
1. Put the Kisses into the freezer for at least a few hours in advance. If you're like me and got yours ahead of time and kept them in the freezer ever since, you've already got this step covered.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place cupcake papers into two 6-space cupcake trays or one 12-space tray, whichever you have.
3. Submit to the Batterwitch and make the cupcake batter as directed on the back of the mix box.
4. Add the chocolate chips to the batter, then grab a wooden spoon, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix the chocolate chips in.
5. Divide the batter into the cupcake papers, filling about 3/4 of each one, plus just a tiny bit extra to account for the space taken up by the chocolate chips.
6. Put the filled trays into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. As always, you'll know it's time to take them out when you stick a toothpick into the middle of one of the cupcakes and it comes out mostly or entirely clean. Give them another 5 minutes if they're not done after the given time for whatever reason, but be careful not to overcook them.
7. Take the cupcakes out of the oven and let them sit for about 10 minutes, then remove them from the tray and let them cool further for another 10 minutes.
8. Remove the Kisses from the freezer. Unwrap the ones needed and use a large, sharp knife to carefully cut enough from each one to make them vaguely resemble cat ears. This is what makes Kisses with colourful insides perfect for these cupcakes.
9. Spread a generous layer of frosting onto each cupcake's surface.
10. Divide the cupcakes into two sets of six. On one set of cupcakes, decorate four of them with a single large frosting heart, using a different colour for each, and use the black gel to draw a cute smiling face and the letters "MC" onto the fifth one, obviously representing MC-kun. Where'd the sixth one go? Assuming you're like me, you ate it as a taste test. Let's pretend it's that mythical "missing fifth girl" that MatPat went on about. Or hey, maybe it's you, the player who had no presence as a character within the game.
11. Now it's time for the other set. On four of the cupcakes, place two of the prepared Kisses onto the top edge of each one, making sure the frosting keeps them stuck on. These will be the ears for the kitty faces you'll be making. Once you've done this, give each of the cupcakes a different eye colour, then use the black gel to draw the nose, mouth and whiskers. On the final two cupcakes, use the four coloured frostings to spell out "DDLC" across them, using the colour arrangement to show your Doki preference--if you haven't gathered yet, pink represents Natsuki, blue is Yuri, red is Sayori and green is Monika.
12. Put the finished cupcakes into a cake container or place them back into the tray, then store them in the fridge until you're ready to eat them. This will also help them firm up a little more and, in my experience, become all the more rich and delicious.
And voila, you've made cute cupcakes that Natsuki would be proud of you for (even if she'd be reluctant to admit it at first)! Now just pair them with your drink of choice, put on your favourite DDLC Let's Play and enjoy! I hope you love these as much as I do, and that you've found a fun new annual tradition to indulge in! And in general, don't ever forget the feelings you experienced when you found that special day! <3