Neapolitan Bird Nest Cupcakes

Good morning, fellow food lovers ……. Good morning, my friends from Surprise Recipe Swap!

It’s the 20th of the month which means it’s time for Surprise Recipe Swap (SRS) ….. time to reveal my surprise foodie partner ….. & the recipe I picked to recreate.

My secret partner for this month is Amy from Amy’s Cooking Adventures.

This is the first time I have been to Amy’s blog & I have to tell you ….. I spent hours & hours browsing around ….. looking through amazing recipes till I picked the one.

Amy has such a variety of mouthwatering recipes …. it was really hard ….. & you all need to go over to see for yourself!

Since Easter is around the corner I decided to make NEAPOLITAN BIRD NEST CUPCAKES ….. Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.

I had to make some adaptation to Amy’s  NEAPOLITAN BIRD NEST CUPCAKE recipe. I didn’t have any Strawberry cake mix so I made my own strawberry layer for the NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES.

My kids were so excited when they realized I am baking CUPCAKES for recipe swap ….. when they saw the finished NEAPOLITAN BIRD NEST CUPCAKES there was no stopping them.

I had to hide them in the outside  fridge so there is something left for everybody else.

Neapolitan Bird Nest Cupcakes

This recipe was adapted from NEAPOLITAN BIRD NEST CUPCAKES – Amy’s Cooking Adventures.

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Duncan Hines Swiss Chocolate Cake Mix (Eggs, oil, and water as indicated on packaging)

• 1 1/4 cups Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup Butter Unsalted (softened)
• 1 cups Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tbsp Torani Strawberry Syrup
• 1 tsp Strawberry Extract
• 1/2 cup Milk

STEP 1: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line 24 muffin cups.

STEP 2: Prepare Swiss Chocolate cake batter according to the package. Set aside.

STEP 3: In a large bowl or stand up mixer beat together butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy.

STEP 4: Gradually add eggs, Torani strawberry syrup and strawberry extract.

STEP 5: In another bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

STEP 6: On a low speed gradually beat in flour mixture alternating with milk. Start and finish with flour.

STEP 7: Pour 2 tablespoons of chocolate cupcake batter into bottom of each muffin cup. Top with 2 tablespoons of strawberry cupcake batter.

STEP 7: Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

STEP 8: Remove cupcakes from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto cooling rack.

STEP 9: When all cupcakes are completely cool frost them with marshmallow frosting and decorate as you wish.

Neapolitan Bird Nest Cupcakes

Ingredients for Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8-9 oz Cream Cheese
• 1 cup Butter (unsalted, softened)
• 3-4 cups Icing Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

STEP 1: Place the cream cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth.  Add butter and cream together until combined and smooth.  Add  vanilla extract and icing sugar and mix until smooth.  Add  additional icing sugar to thicken the frosting, if desired.

STEP 2: Place frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large circle tip and swirl a thin layer of frosting onto each cupcake.  Start on the outer edge and move toward the center, adding a little extra dollop in the center for a nest.

Decorate each  NEAPOLITAN  CUPCAKE  with chocolate shavings & chocolate mini eggs.

Neapolitan Bird Nest Cupcakes

Don’t forget….Keep Smiling….Keep Cooking!