Strawberry Shortcake Butterfly Cupcakes
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 24 cupcakes
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 24 servings
- Calories
- 132
- Total Fat
- 4
- Saturated Fat
- 2
- Carbohydrates
- 22
- Dietary Fiber
- 0
- Sugar
- 3
- Protein
- 2
- Cholesterol
- 11
- Sodium
- 133
- Total: 1 hr (includes cooling time)
- Active: 30 min
Ingredients
One 15.25-ounce box strawberry cake mix (plus required ingredients)
32 small strawberries with leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
One .55-ounce piece green taffy, such as AirHeads® Watermelon
One 12-ounce container frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed
Directions
Special equipment:
a pastry bag fitted with a medium open star tip and a melon baller, spoon or paring knife- For the cupcakes: Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions to make 24 cupcakes. Bake and let cool 15 minutes in the pan on a rack, then transfer the cupcakes to a rack to cool completely.
- Hull and chop about 8 strawberries (for about 1 cup chopped). Stir together the chopped strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature, tossing a few times, until the strawberries are juicy, about 15 minutes.
- For the remaining 24 strawberries, put a strawberry stem-side down on a cutting board. Make 2 crisscross slices down and almost all the way through the strawberry, stopping just before the stem to keep the stem end intact. Gently pull the 4 sections apart to form a butterfly. Repeat with the remaining strawberries.
- Make the antennae by cutting 2 thin strips of green taffy, about 1 inch long and 1 millimeter wide each. Roll the taffy strips between your hands to make ropes, and curl up one end of each rope slightly. Repeat, making a pair of antennae for the remaining 23 butterflies.
- To assemble the cupcakes: Transfer the whipped topping to a pastry bag fitted with a medium open star tip. Core the cupcakes from their tops with a small melon baller, spoon or paring knife. Fill each with some macerated strawberries and pipe a swirl of whipped topping on top to cover. Decorate each cupcake with a strawberry butterfly. Tuck a pair of antennae into the whipped topping behind each strawberry butterfly with the curled ends up and facing outward.