Jell-O Poke Cupcakes

When we were kids my mom would make us a refrigerator cake called Jell-O Poke Cake and we loved it!  White cake with strawberry Jell-O drizzled all over it and then topped with a whipped cream frosting. 
It was so fun to take a fork and make holes all over the freshly baked cake so the Jell-O could sink in.  My brother, Greg, really loved this cake, so I surprised him on Easter Sunday with my cupcake version of Jell-O Poke cake. 

One bite of this cupcake and I was back home in 1975 wearing my bell bottom pants and listening to the Captain and Tennille and the Bee Gees on the radio.  Good times!

Strawberry Jell-O Poke Cupcakes

1 box White Cake Mix, plus eggs, water and oil
1 cup boiling water
1 pkg. (3 oz.) Strawberry Flavored Jell-O
1/2 cup cold water

Place 24 cupcake liners in a muffin tin.  Prepare cake as directed on package.  Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes.  Cool completely.  Take a fork or bamboo skewer (that's what I used) and poke about 6 six holes in each cupcake.  Prepare Jell-O as directed above.  Place the cupcakes on a pan with an edge because some of the Jell-O will overflow.  Now here's the tricky part.  Instead of spooning the Jell-O over each cupcake, I put it into a squeeze bottle and squeezed some Jell-O into each hole.  You will still have some overflow, but I don't think it was quite as bad as just pouring it from a cup would have been.  Now place the cupcakes in the fridge for a few hours to chill.

Frosting:
1 small pkg.Vanilla instant pudding
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. container Cool Whip

Whisk instant vanilla pudding, milk and vanilla until smooth.  Fold in Cool Whip.  I placed the prepared frosting in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let it thicken up before I place it into a piping bag to frost the cupcakes.
Frost as desired.  I used a Wilton 1M tip when frosting these cupcakes.

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