It’s my friend’s birthday. I was thinking about making a cake or something to commemorate the occasion, but wanted it to be something…different. I thought about doing a traditional summer time treat of Jello Poke cake! It’s the middle of winter, so I imagined this would be a warm, sunshiney pick-me-up. Then I thought…I wonder if that would work with cupcakes? Since those are easier to serve, and people love cupcakes. it should, so let’s try it!
Then…I had the best idea EVER. Jello SHOT cupcakes! Of course! How have I not tried this yet?! I mean, I was already going to be making the jello, so why not throw some booze in there with it? So I got started.
I chose to use white cake mix, since that could really support any flavor of jello without mucking it up. My friends and I have always been pretty adventurous with our jello shots, so I already had a few ideas about flavour combinations. Strawberry + Whipped cream vodka? yes, please. Then, while experimenting, I learned I needed two batched of jello, so the second winner was Mango jello + Malibu Coconut Rum…YUM.
Join me on this culinary (haha) adventure!
Step one: Prepare cake batter according to box instructions. I went with a generic $1.00 box of cake mix, because the jello/liquor is the real star here.
Step Two: Get yourself some jazzy cupcake papers. Or plain ones, whatever floats your boat. Since these cupcakes are for my male friend, I figured you can’t go wrong with Zebra/Tiger stripes!
Step Three: Pour the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them approximately 2/3 full. I kinda guessed at this. Whatevs, make the cupcakes how you normally would from a box. I usually overfill them (accidentally) so I never get the full 24 out of a box like you are supposed to. Oh well, I like big cakes, and I cannot lie. Mine looked like this:
Step Five: Bake them shits. Again, follow box instructions. My box (haha) said to bake them at 350 F for 15-20 minutes. That’s a big range when baking, so I plopped my timer at 17 minutes, which was perfect. (I didn’t photograph the oven, sorry)
Step Six: Remove from oven, and remove from cupcake tins. I laid mine out on a plastic tray in neat little rows. do not proceed to step seven until the cakes are cooled.
Step Seven: Let the poking begin! You’ll need a drinking straw for this. Steal one from McDonald’s if you don’t have a pack of bendy straws like every other perfectly respectable adult does. You can really poke whatever pattern you like, but keep it to 4-5 holes. I did a pattern that had one in the middle and four around it.
Step Eight: Once you’ve poked them all, its time to mix your Jello. This is where your creativity can be a big asset! Usually when I make jello shots, I substitute the liquor for the entire portion of cold water. For these cupcakes – since it is the first time – I did 1/2 cup cold water, 1/2 cup liquor. So, follow the box instructions for the jello, substituting liquor for all or part of the cold water. I usually add a few ice cubes into my measuring cups to chill it further. Here are the combos I used:
and
Step Nine: this next part is sort of tricky. I found the easiest way to do it was holding one cupcake at a time, over the sink. The key is to move slooooowly. Hold the cupcake in your hand, and gently, ever so slowly, pour the jello mix into the center hole of the cake. Pour until you can see the jello liquid rising. It will run over, and make a mess. If you tilt the cupcake a bit while doing this, you can sort of catch the liquid in the other holes. (this sounds gross, haha).
Since this was my first time doing this, I made a huge mess and lost some of my jello. Hence, I had to make a second batch. But, this worked out, because now there are two flavors!
when you’re done, it should look something like this:
Step Ten: Refrigerate! It’s best to let them set up for 3-4 hours, so they aren’t a soggy mess. I bet you wish you had a beer fridge a cool as this:
why yes, that IS apple pie moonshine there in the door. This part sucks the most. Waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting…when all you want is to eat a jello shot cupcake #firstworldproblems
Step Eleven: Mix up your frosting and give them some covering! On a normal jello poke cake, we would frost the cake with a tub of cool whip. I decided to do a mix of half cool whip half vanilla (white) store bought icing. I suppose you could whip up your own frosting if you like that sort of thing, but I’m lazy.
Step Twelve: eattttt them. but not too many, there is real live booze in there. No nomming and driving!
The consensus, after enjoying these little beauties, was that the mango/coconut rum were completely awesome, you could barely even taste the rum. The strawberry/whipped cream were also awesome, but you could really taste the vodka. food for thought 🙂
Boozey Jello Shot Cupcakes:
1 box cake mix (white) – prepare batter as directed – mine called for 2 egg whites and 1 cup +2 Tbsp of water
2 boxes of Jello
1/2 Cup of liquor per box of jello (or more if you’re feeling ballsy, up to 1 C/box)
1 tub of Cool Whip
1/2 can frosting
Drinking straw
Preheat oven to 350 F (or what your box says), and prepare batter as directed. Pour batter into cupcake liners in a cupcake tin. Bake according to box instructions. Remove from tins and let cool. Once cool to the touch, use a drinking straw and poke 4-5 holes into the cupcakes.
Prepare jello as listed on box, substituting liquor for part of the cold water. Once completely mixed, slowly pour jello mixture into the holes of the cupcakes individually, holding voer the sink. Fill until you can see the liquid in the holes (be careful not to overfill the cupcakes). Once all are filled, place the cupcakes in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, until jello is completely set.
Prepare frosting: fold together half a can of frosting and 1 tub of cool whip. Frost cupcakes, and enjoy!
Curlie Girlie 