Lava Flow Cupcakes

I’m going to be completely honest here — I have way too much personal time invested in the Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise drama.

It’s kind of turned me into a private investigator.

Did she turn to Nicole Kidman for help?  Are they friends?

Did she have a secret cell phone??

It’s all very Sleeping With the Enemy, which is one of my favorites movies.  Ooooh!!  Maybe she got pointers from Julia Roberts?  Remind me to look into that.

Also, someone told me that Tom Cruise was responsible for the Dawson’s Creek reunion not happening.  Obviously, Tom Cruise is now my least favorite person ever.  What, he didn’t like Joey Potter??

What does he even know, he was in Vanilla Sky for Pete’s sake.

Anyways.

Have you ever noticed things like once you get a new car, even though you think you NEVER see anyone else have that car, suddenly they’re EVERYWHERE?

Well.  Lately, since I can’t have cocktails, I feel like recipes for them are all over the place.  It’s all I see.

I know that really has nothing to do with the car analogy, but whatevs.

Since I can’t have drinks, I decided to make a Lava Flow cupcake.  I’ve never HAD a Lava Flow (except for the sno cone flavor…I am an expert at cocktail flavors as sno cones), but it’s all over Pinterest, so I figured it must be good.

It’s a pineapple cupcake infused with strawberry (that’s a fancy way of saying I poked holes in and poured jello on it), with coconut cream frosting and strawberry puree topping.

Preeeeeety sure you need one in your life.

Or four.

Lava Flow Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 box (18.25 oz) white cake mix
• 20 oz can crushed pineapple in juice (NOT SYRUP)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 3 oz box Strawberry Jell-O
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cold water
• Frosting:
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1/2 cup Cream of Coconut
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 4 TBS heavy cream
• Strawberry sauce:
• 16 oz frozen sliced strawberries in sugar syrup, thawed
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  First, prepare strawberry sauce: Using your blender, blend thawed strawberries and syrup until smooth.  Pour into a saucepan, whisking in 2 tablespoons cornstarch.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until thickened.  Allow to cool to room temperature, then store in a covered container in your fridge.

2.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line 24 muffin cups with liners.  In the bowl of a mixer, combine cake mix, entire can of pineapple and juice, oil and eggs.  Beat on low for one minute, then increase speed to medium and beat two minutes more.  Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake until tops spring back when lightly touched, 15 minutes or so.

3.  In a bowl, combine Jell-O mix and boiling water, whisking until Jell-O is dissolved. Stir in cold water.  Using a skewer, poke holes in the tops of your cupcakes and carefully spoon Jell-O mixture over the holes.  I preferred to do this while the cupcakes were still in the pans, so the pan would catch any overflow.

4.  Once finished, remove cupcakes to cooling rack and let cool completely.

5.  Prepare frosting:  In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter, cream of coconut, and vanilla until smooth.  Slowly add powdered sugar until just combined.  Add heavy cream and increase speed to high, beating for a minute or two until light and fluffy.  Frost cupcakes and pour strawberry sauce on before serving.

Note:  You can find Cream of Coconut with the drink making supplies at your grocery store.  I prefer to use the squeeze bottle instead of the can.

Have a very happy Monday!!

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