Recipes

[FunkyHulaGirl]

I make these pretty often, most recently for my dentist's staff...who dug into them as soon as I handed them the box! They look so pretty (and taste so good), I wish I had taken a picture! If you have a Michael's or other crafts store near you, Wilton makes cupcake liners with an ice cream sundae/soda design that's perfect for these.

Neapolitan Sundae Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 pkg. plain white cake mix (I used Aldi's, which is the "old" size)

1 pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix

1 6 oz. container of vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

4 large eggs

1/2 cup chocolate syrup

3 tbs. strawberry Jello powder

Preheat the oven to 350 and put liners in 27 cupcake pans.

Mix together the cake mix, pudding, yogurt, oil, water, and eggs in a large bowl for 1 minutes at low speed; scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the spped to medium for about 2 minutes.

Divide the batter equally into 3 parts (each part will be about 2 cups). Add the chocolate syrup to one part, the Jello mix to another, and leave the third plain.

Starting with the chocolate batter, place a heaping tablespoon into each lined muffin cup, followed by the plain, and then the strawberry.(Use up one flavor at a time, as it's easier to make sure they're evenly distributed that way.)

Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, until they spring back when lightly touched; place on wire rack to cool for a few minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and let them cool completely before frosting.

Fluffy Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup solid shortening

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

Mix the powdered sugar and shortening in a bowl with a mixer at low speed. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth and fluffy, adding a little more milk if necessary.

OK, now comes the fun part!

Spread the frosting on the top of the cupcakes, or if you want them to look really special, use a pastry bag.

Scatter some colored sprinkles over the top, dizzle a thin stream of chocolate syrup over the cupcakes, and top with a marichino cherry.

Makes 27 sundae cupcakes.

The ladies at the dentist's office were eating these with a plate and fork!