Sour Patch Cupcakes (aka Blizzard #4)

Immediately after first seeing these cupcakes, I'd been dying to make them. They looked so cheerful and fun - it was honestly just hard to imagine an occasion that would call for the neon, mouth-puckering sweetness of these candies. Alas, my dad's birthday was this week and I knew exactly what to make him. Since I can remember, he has been able to down sour candy (Sour Patch Kids, Sprees, Warheads) like no one else. Proud to say I definitely inherited this tendency from him, which may or may not be due to the Warhead contests we would have. I absolutely love anything sour and have no problem eating a lime all on it's own. 

In preparing for this recipe, I really had NO idea what to expect. It was a little intimidating at first, mainly because it involved a couple extra steps that I hadn't experienced as a newbie. I was fully prepared for our kitchen to look as if the night's blizzard had somehow whipped through the apartment. While we're on the topic, here's a quick side story to help you imagine the disaster that so often becomes our kitchen...

A few months ago, I was crunched for time but was determined to make brownies for a friend's party. I was lucky enough to have some Ghirardelli Brownie mix in the pantry (SUCH delicious brownies, by the way). The mix bags are definitely child proof and I was having an especially difficult time opening it. Grabbing scissors was just one extra step that didn't seem necessary. I put the bag in the mixing bowl with the hope that it would catch any stray mix. Then, I just got too impatient and decided to rip the bag open with all my might. POOF!! The mix exploded and landed in places I had never even imagined. For a minute, time stopped and all I could hear was chocolate chips hitting solid surfaces all over the table. Needless to say, I used scissors to open today's bag of Funfetti mix (definitely worth the extra 5 seconds). 

In the end, these cupcakes were fun to make but very time consuming! Filling cupcakes was a first for me, but it went as smoothly as could be. The effort was all worth it and I'd recommend these to anyone. The frosting was just sour enough and the jelly somehow gave the cupcakes a fresh flavor to balance the sour. Highly recommended, regardless of whether or not you have an affinity for sour candy. 

Sour Patch Kid Cupcakes 

Yield: 24 cupcakes Prep time: 2 hours Bake time: 15-17 minutes

Ingredients
Cupcakes
1 box of Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix --> Absolute favorite, especially for birthdays!
1/2 cup strawberry jelly 

Lemon Buttercream Frosting (Recipe adapted from Sprinkles Frosting ) 
1 3/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
5 3/4 cups powdered sugar 
Zest of 2 lemons 
5 tablespoons lemon juice 
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
Green, pink and orange neon gel food coloring 

Topping
1/4 cup True Lemon crystallized lemon
1/4 cup sugar 
Sour Patch Kids, of course!


Directions
For the cupcakes...
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcakes according to directions on the box and bake for 15 minutes, or until cakes spring back to the touch.

2. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. 

3. Pour strawberry jelly into pastry bag with a round tip. Insert tip halfway into each cupcake and fill until jelly appears at the top of the cake. 

For the frosting...
1. Cream together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. 

2. Add zest, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Using a mixer, blend all ingredients until combined. 

3. Divide frosting into three small bowls, about 1 1/2 cups in each bowl. 

4. Proceed to add coloring to each bowl of frosting until you've achieved the desired color. To match the fluorescent neon color of these candies, it took 25 drops of food coloring (yikes!). You'll end up with what looks like three bowls of insanely colored Play-Doh. These cupcakes were frosted with a pastry bag using a small star tip. After this endeavor, I will definitely be investing in a few more pastry bags. Washing out the bag in between applying each color took forever! Luckily, I had all the time in the world with the blizzard raging on outside (yes, again). 

Side note: This frosting started to harden after only a short time. If it becomes difficult to work with, stir in a drop or two of vanilla for a smoother consistency. However, the thicker consistency had the perk of giving me a serious arm workout during the frosting process! 

For the topping...
1. Combine True Lemon and sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle lightly on top of frosting and top each cupcake with a Sour Patch Kid. Enjoy! 

Side note: There are different suggestions for whether or not to refrigerate cupcakes with fruit filling. While these definitely taste best at room temperature, it is probably safest to refrigerate these. Cupcakes can be kept for up to 5 days.