Strawberry Brownie Ripple Cupcakes

Well, the count down to V-Day is on! Good thing I blew that diet so I could make these cupcakes for y’all. Oh, the things I do for my blog.  LOL!

I think being such a healthy eater over the last month made me lose all self respect when I began concocting the recipe I’m sharing today. Mr. Sweets has been insisting that pinecones are probably the equivalent of my recent healthy fare. Ahh, he's just not up for change. And technically, I think horse feed would be the more appropriate comparison:)

So, when I finally took a day to ditch all that 'horsefeed' this week, I created a strawberry cupcake with a brownie ripple in the middle. Unbelievably good and terribly sinful. Kinda reminds you of a chocolate covered strawberry. I’m sure your Sweetie would love to have a couple dozen of these if you decided to forgo the traditional box of candy.

You could make these with any flavor cake mix, but the strawberry looked so sweet and Valentiney. If you still wanted the color, but not strawberry flavor. You could just tint a white cake mix pink. Or if you think about it next month, you could tint the cake mix green for St. Patrick’s Day. Whichever you choose, to achieve the 'ripple', just run a toothpick or skewer around in the unbaked cupcake and you'll get something like this:

For the frosting, I just settled on a simple buttercream, but it would probably be killer with a cream cheese frosting too!

Enjoy!
  
Strawberry Brownie Ripple Cupcakes

 Strawberry Layer
 Ingredients:
1(18 oz) Box Strawberry Cake Mix 
1/3 cup greek yogurt (or plain yogurt)
1 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
*Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

Brownie Layer
Ingredients:
1 Box Family Size Brownie Mix (for 9x13pan)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
*Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

Directions:
Line Muffin Pans with cupcake liners (recipe make apprx. 30 cupcakes). With a medium cookie scoop (or a tablespoon), scoop 2 level scoops of strawberry mixture into each cupcake liner. With a small cookie scoop (or a teaspoon), scoop 2 level scoops of brownie mixture on top of strawberry mixture. Top brownie mixture with another scoop of strawberry mixture. Using a toothpick or skewer, make a few zip zags through unbaked cupcakes to create swirls. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes. Cool completely. Frost with Buttercream frosting (Recipe follows)

Vanilla Buttercream Icing:

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup shortening
1 pound powdered sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder or 2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk as needed for consistency

Directions

1. With the paddle attachment and your stand-type mixer, beat the butter, shortening, powdered sugar, and meringue powder/egg whites together.
2. Add the lemon juice and vanilla. Beat the frosting, adding enough milk to reach the desired consistency.