Watermelon Cupcakes

By srumbel

**Mini Note!: I wanted these cupcakes to be SUPER watermelon-y, so I used watermelon syrup, watermelon oil AND watermelon jello. If you can’t find one or would prefer a tamer flavor, you can omit the syrup and use water for the cupcake batter, OR only add the watermelon jello and skip the oil, syrup and pudding. However, I think the way I did it tastes the best, but use your own taste preference as a guide.**

from thedomesticrebel

Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 1/4 cup watermelon syrup (I used snow-cone syrup I found at Walmart–use water if you can’t find syrup or want a tamer flavor)
• 1 small box SF/FF vanilla pudding mix
• 2 drams watermelon oil, divided
• 1 Tablespoon watermelon Jello mix
• Mini chocolate chips
• Frosting ingredients (recipe and ingredients follow)
• Watermelon Frosting
• 1 can vanilla frosting
• 2/3 cup softened butter
• 1 16oz bag powdered sugar
• 2-3 T milk
• 1 dram watermelon oil
• Green food coloring
• Mini chocolate chips

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners. In a large bowl, beat together cake mix, egg whites, applesauce, & syrup (or water) until blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in pudding mix (omit if only using jello). Lastly, beat in 1 Tablespoon watermelon jello mix and one (1) dram of watermelon oil. This will give it an intense watermelon flavor! At this point you can either stir in about 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips OR layer them, like I did.
2. To layer: Put one heaping spoonful (or cookie dough scoopful) of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle tops with a few mini chips. Top with another scoopful of batter, and sprinkle with more mini chips. Bake, approximately 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Watermelon Frosting
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and the entire dram of watermelon oil until creamy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Mixture may turn paste-y. If this happens, add milk ONE Tablespoon at a time. Continue adding milk and/or powdered sugar until you’ve reached a soft but spreadable consistency.
2. Meanwhile, tint vanilla frosting green. Fill a pastry bag with green frosting. Using a small tip (I used Atecco 12) pipe green frosting in a thick circle around the perimeter of the cupcake. If you’d rather, you can frost the tops of the cupcakes green and continue onto step 3.
3. Place watermelon frosting into another piping bag, fitted with Atecco tip 807. Pipe pink watermelon frosting into the center of the green circle (covering the exposed part of the cupcake) or into the center of your frosted cake, leaving a green border. Pile on as high as you’d like. Sprinkle with remaining miniature chocolate chips. Store covered in the fridge, or consume immediately for tastiness.