Yield 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
Batter:
1 box white cake mix
3 eggs (for cake mix)
1/2 cup oil (for cake mix) {Applesauce can also be used for a healthier option}
1 cup water (for cake mix)
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
Filling:
1 1/2 cups strawberry preserves (jam)
1 cup chopped strawberries (size of a fingernail)
Frosting:
2 tubs of cool whip
1 jar of vanilla frosting
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Topping:
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
2 tablespoons stawberry sauce (like the kind you get for an ice cream topping)
3 tablespoons water
Triangle strawberries (Cut it in half once, and then half again)
Blueberries
1. Begin by preparing your cake mix by adding the mix, eggs, oil and water together until smooth
2. Fill each cupcake liner with 1 tablespoon of cake mix
3. Prepare your filling by adding your chopped strawberries with your strawberry preserves in a pot
4. Heat it on low on the stove for 20-30 minutes (You want to let it bubble for a while to break down the strawberries a little bit)
5. Let the filling completely cool (you can place it in a tub of ice water if you don't have a lot of time to wait for it to cool) and then put one tablespoon of it in each cupcake liner on top of the batter you already put in there. The goal is to keep it in the center of the cupcake so it is a surprise when people bite into it
6. Then put another tablespoon of cake batter in each cupcake liner on top of the strawberry filling. Again, you want to try and cover up all the strawberries with the batter so they can't see it until they bite into it.
7. Bake the cucpakes for 20 minutes at 350 degrees
8. Let the cupcakes cool completely
9. While they are cooling, you can make your frosting and topping sauce.
10. To make your frosting whip your cool whip in a bowl. If it has been in the freezer it will be hard and so you will have to work with it a little to get it warmed up. Then add your tub of frosting and blend it together. The frosting will help give it a creamy texture that the cool whip doesn't have on its own.
11. For the topping combine the preserves, sauce and water together in a bowl.This is similar to the filling but you are not using whole strawberries and are going to make it thinner so you can drizzle it on top of the cupcakes.
12. Place your frosting in a ziploc bag and cut a hole in one corner. Squeeze it out of the bag onto the cupcakes. If your frosting has been in the fridge for a while (when I made it I had my frosting in the fridge overnight before I decorated them so it got really hard) you will have to work with it a little bit to get it softer.
13. Then take your sauce and drizzle it on top of the frosting
14. Take your strawberries and blueberries and place them on top. You can put as many as you want on but it is a good idea to keep the rule of 3 in mind. With dessert decorating you want to work in three's. I reccomend putting on strawberry triangle in the middle and then 3 blueberries around it.
15. Enjoy!