Strawberry Shortcake Butterfly Cupcakes

By CJKK

Ingredients

• 15.25-ounce 15.25-ounce box One 15.25-ounce box strawberry cake mix (plus required ingredients)
• 32 32 32 small strawberries with leaves
• 2 2 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• One One .55-ounce piece green taffy, such as AirHeads® Watermelon
• 12-ounce 12-ounce container One 12-ounce container frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed

Details

Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Preparation

Step 1

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.