Fruity Cupcakes

Sorry, I have been kind of out of the blogger loop lately.  Well out of the writing loop, I still read a zillion blogs because I am so inspired by peoples creativity!

Not to long ago I went to a friends wedding.  It was beautiful.  I had a blast.  I also was not disappointed in their "cake".  They served cupcakes.  However, these were so delicious.  They had a hint of real fruit flavor and I was caught like a fish on a line.  How could I acheive that taste?  It wasn't bottled, I can tell you that.

Not to long after I was asked to bring cupcakes to a party.  Oooo a chance opportunity?  I think not.

I started sketching options and came up with this:

I am not sure if it is a good idea to sketch out your idea.  Only reason is finding exactly what is in your brain can be difficult!  I couldn't find plain dark brown liners but oh well.

I first melted my tempered chocolate and put in a piping bag.  Lesson learned here was keep warming the chocolate and snip a very small hole.  Some were cute, some not so good.  I started with a template and then gave up on that.  Another weird thing is my hearts kept getting bigger and bigger as I went. Wait, a bigger heart is what you want right?  ;-)  I made tons of extra so no big.

Just pipe the chocolate on waxed paper taped to your counter.  If you are going to use a template place that beneath the wax paper.  I let them dry over night, but a few hours would work too.

Here is the fruity secret.....Grab a bag of frozen strawberries - thaw them - drain the juice and use the juice as a substitute for the water required in your white cake mix.  I couldn't resist putting the strawberries in the batter either but hey.  Also, set aside 3 Tbsp of that juice to substitute the milk in your icing recipe (I made a basic cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar recipe).

Both the cakes and frosting will have a legitimate strawberry flavor that is WONDERFUL!!

To put the heart on top, just peel off the wax paper and place in the frosting.  So nummy....really you must make these - soon.

Cupcakes

1 white cake mix

1 pkg frozen strawberries (thawed reserve liquid).

Make cake mix as directed but use liquid for 1 cup water called for - if there is not enough, just top with water until you get accurate measurement.  Add strawberries last to batter - stir in.

Frosting

1 pkg softened cream cheese

1/2 stick softened butter

3 Tbsp strawberry liquid

4 c. +/- powdered sugar (add until correct consistency)

Enjoy!!!