Cupcakes and Jell-o

When it comes to desserts, my kids think cupcakes are their favorites. This cupcake I make for them when it gets close to summer are just awesome and so easy to do! Little more time consuming than most out of mix cupcakes, they hit the spot when it is warm outside.

What do you get when you mix cupcakes and Jell-o? You get an easy and yummy summertime cupcake. When I make white cupcakes, I also add any flavor of jell-o gelatin on top to make them swirling with flavor. This last time I made these, I made white cupcakes with strawberry jell-o. It was their dessert of choice for Cinco de Mayo. Not your normal Cinco de Mayo dessert, but, for the kids; it was their choice. They wolf them down quickly! This time I decided to make them a little more festive with some sprinkles on top, they loved it!

You start with a normal white cake mix and make it to package directions. Or, you can use your favorite cake recipe from scratch. With these you have to make white cupcakes so that the colors really come out of the jell-o gelatin. This time I used a cake mix because I bought a bunch since at my grocery store they were buy 2 and get 3 free, I cannot pass up a deal on that for quick easy desserts for my kids. Bake the cupcakes according to package directions, this time they took 18 minutes in the oven.

Then, you let them cool in the pan. Well, since I have only one muffin pan, I had to make them and take them out before adding the gelatin so it was a little trickier to get the gelatin on top since usually you put the gelatin on top while they are still in the pan. I had to come up with an inventive way to do this. After I poked the holes in the cupcakes, I figured out that with a bowl and a strainer, I could add the gelatin on top of the cupcakes by spooning it on like in the next pictures.
Not the most graceful way of doing it but it still got the job done.


Then they should look like this:

After the gelatin is on top of all the cupcakes, you put them in the fridge for 2 hours so the gelatin can set. Then frost it with whipped topping. But, since I did not have whipped topping, I made a buttercream frosting and frosted with that instead.

My buttercream frosting recipe:
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
(if you want the frosting colored, use a couple drops of food coloring; if you want the frosting flavored add what flavor extract you want instead of the vanilla, in this case strawberry extract or flavoring would be very tasty with these)
Whip up the butter until fluffy, add half of the powdered sugar. Then slowly add the milk and vanilla and beat until all mixed. Add remaining powdered sugar and whip until light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes.

When you cut into the cupcakes, they should look like this:


And, that, my friends, is how to make a simple tasty dessert out of one cake mix and one gelatin package for a whole bunch of fun! Next time I think I will use the purple Berry Fusion jello I have in the cupboard. YUMMY!