Strawberry Filled Cupcakes with Laffy Taffy Frosting

It wouldn’t be Valentine’s for me without a cute cupcake!  They are the perfect gift and there is lots of fun things you can purchase at the craft stores these days to package them up in.  I found some cute gift bags this year at Hobby Lobby to place mine in.  Last year I found some cute boxes at Michael’s.  I’ve even seen fun packaging at Walmart.

Now this cup recipe is an original made by be.  My inspiration came from 4 different recipes.  The frosting recipe itself in one I adapted from Bake It In a Cake.  The recipe there caught my eye because it is made with Laffy Taffy frosting.  The whole idea was one I had to give a try and I am so glad I did.  I love this frosting!  It is thick yet fluffy all at the same time.  It also gets a slight strawberry flavor to it from the laffy taffy along with it’s beautiful light pink color.  So good!  I now want to try this frosting out with all different laffy taffy flavors.
The other fun part to the cupcake with the strawberry filling.  You cut out some of the center to create a little pocket for the filling.  I like to use my apple corer to get perfectly round little plugs.

Then you place half the plug back on top of the filling to seal it in the cupcake.

Now if for some reason the whole laffy taffy thing has you put off, another great frosting to go on these cupcakes would be the recipe I have for Strawberry Jam Buttercream.
I also have these other yummy cupcakes recipes on my site that would work great for Valentine’s Day.
Perfect Cake Mix Cupcakes with Strawberry Jam Buttercream
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Cupcake Shortcakes
Perfect Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream
Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream
Also be sure to look at my review page today to find out about a new website called Say Mmm.

Strawberry Filled Cupcakes

• 1  (18.25-oz.) package white cake mix with pudding
• 1 1/4  cups  buttermilk
• 1/4  cup  butter, melted
• 2  large eggs
• 2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
• 1/2  teaspoon  almond extract
• 1 (10 oz jar) Smucker’s Simply Fruit Strawberry Spreadable Fruit
• Sprinkles

Laffy Taffy Frosting
***This frosting is enough to cover all of the cupcakes but if you want it piled on on the cupcakes like I did in the photo then you will want to double this amount.***

• 10 pieces of strawberry Laffy Taffy candy (the fun sized ones)
• 2 Tbsp. heavy cream
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar

1. In a small sauce pan, melt the taffy and the heavy cream together stirring until the mixture is smooth.  Remove from the heat to cool while you make the cupcakes.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin cups with paper liners.  Spray liners lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, beat  cake mix, buttermilk, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract with an electric mixer until moistened, about 30 seconds. Then increase the speed to high and beat until thick, 2 minutes longer.
4. Fill paper liners two-thirds full with the batter. Bake  at 350° for 18-25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Allow cupcakes to cool.
5. Prepare frosting, while cupcakes cool.  In a mixing bowl, whip the butter until smooth.
6. Mix in the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, whipping until fluffy. Then add the melted and cooled laffy taffy a spoonful at a time.  You don’t want it too thick.  If needed, place it back on the stove for a few seconds to soften it just enough. After each spoonful of the laffy taffy, turn the mixer up to high and whip the frosting until it’s fluffy. You can also add a little pink or red food coloring to get the desired shade but I was happy with the color as it was.
7. When the cupcakes are cooled, using an apple corer or knife, cut out a 3/4 inch round plug from the center of each cupcake creating a pocket in each cupcake.  Reserve the plugs in a bowl, you’ll need them.
8. Spoon the Smucker’s Simply Fruit in a ziploc freezer bag.  Knead the fruit in the bag for a few seconds to soften it.  Snip of a corner of the bag with scissors and pipe the fruit into the pockets, filling the pockets of each cupcake.
9. Take the cake plugs you reserved and break them in half.  Keep the top piece and do what ever you want with the bottom half.  Place the plug on top of each pocket to seal it off.
10. Frost the cupcakes with the laffy taffy frosting and top with sprinkles. Makes 22-24 cupcakes.

I shared this on Whipperberry!