The Flavor of Summer

So the idea for these cupcakes came about because of an accident and they turned out much better than expected so I was pretty excited about that.  And on the plus side they are really easy to make :)

Here is a list of what you need:
A cake mix (I used chocolate but vanilla would work just as well)
Hand mixer with whisk attachment
Mixing Bowls and a small bowl for sprinkles
Muffin Papers
Muffin Pans- yes very obvious I know
Measuring cups
Palette Knife-or frosting knife or whatever you might call it
1/2 stick of butter, softened
1/2 stick of margarine, softened
Melted popsicle (I had a strawberry lemonade minutemaid italian ice that had melted)
Powdered sugar
Sprinkles- Optional but I like them :)

You will need your cake mix and whatever it says on the back to make it, a mixing bowl, your hand mixer, cupcake pans and papers, and a  1/4 measuring cup.  Or if you choose to make the mini cupcakes like I did I used 1 tablespoon per cupcake.  So make sure to preheat your oven because I always seem to forget this and it takes longer than necessary.  Then mix all of your cake ingredients in the bowl and use the hand mixer to combine. Then measure out the batter into the cupcake pans.  Place in the oven and bake according to the package.  I usually start with the minimum time so that I don't burn them and if they aren't done by then I can add a few more minutes and watch them. It just makes me feel better :)

For the frosting you need your softened butter and margarine, melted popsicle, powdered sugar, hand mixer, mixing bowl and 1/2 measuring cup.  To start off place the butter and margarine in the bowl and add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and some of the popsicle.  Mix this but do so very carefully so that the powdered sugar doesn't go everywhere.  You could place a towel over the mixer if you would like because it does help.  Keep adding powdered sugar and popsicle until it tasted just right.  My first batch came out a little on the runny side but tasted just like strawberries.  The second one was stiffer and I had to use the palette knife to spread.  I go mostly by taste not by consistency on most cupcakes. 

The decorating part was fairly easy. You will need the frosting, a palette knife, a small bowl, and sprinkles.   I took the frosting and like I said the first batch was runny so I dipped the cupcakes in the frosting and then into a bowl of sprinkles. On the second batch it was a little thicker and so I had to use the palette knife and then just dipped in the sprinkles.  After you do that you're done!

Now that your cupcakes are done, eat one.  They should taste pretty good if you did it right.  Mine ended up tasting like chocolate covered strawberries.  You can make the frosting with any flavor of popsicle and just pair it with a complementary cupcake flavor.  These were super easy and fun to make.  If you want to, you can add little decorations such as for an orange flavored popsicle you can put a gummy orange slice on top or for strawberry you can put strawberry slices.  Use your imagination and make them look adorable :)