Baking is my thing. I used to bake all my treats from scratch but once I became a mama, I realized that there just isn't enough time in the day! I still love whipping up homemade desserts for my family so I started to come up with shortcuts for quick and easier ways to serve fresh-baked treats to my little one.

It's perfectly OK to get a little help by using a boxed cake mix; you can still make your goodies scrumptious and special by adding your own unique touch. These cupcakes are doctored with some fresh strawberry puree and sparkly dragees that make them glittery and fun—everyone will love the pretty pink interior!

Also, it's easy to get the kids involved in preparation: have them mix together the ingredients for the icing (you can always give it a good whisk yourself afterwards), stir in the food coloring to watch the frosting take on a pretty pink, and add the sprinkles and dragees.

Serve this up to your Valentine this holiday and you are sure to get cupid's seal of approval!

Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 1/3 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 large egg whites
• ½ cup strawberry puree (about 7 medium sized strawberries, pureed)

• 5 drops red food coloring
• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk (or water)
• ½ cup silver dragees
• ¼ cup red crystal sprinkles

Instructions

1.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.
Place 18 cupcake liners in two 12-cup cupcake pans.
3.
Combine cake mix, water, oil, eggs, strawberry puree and red food coloring in a large bowl.
4.
Use a whisk or an electric mixer to blend the cake mixture on low speed just until moistened (about 45 seconds). Then, turn mixer up to high speed and blend for 2 minutes more.
5.
Pour batter into prepared cups filling each about ¾ of the way.
6.
Bake cupcakes for 21 - 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7.
Remove cupcake pan from oven and allow cupcakes to cool completely in the pan (about 30 minutes).
8.
Make the icing: in a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioner's sugar, and milk until smooth. Stir in the food coloring.
9.
Dip the top of each cupcake into the icing. Allow excess icing to drip off of the cupcake before turning it over.
10.
Dip each of the cupcakes into the silver dragees. Press firmly so that the dragees stick.
11.
Sprinkle a little of the red crystals over the top of each cupcake. Allow icing to dry slightly (about 10 minutes).

Tips

SAVE TIME: Cupcakes can be made a day in advance and kept covered in a cool place.

SHORT CUT: Don't have fresh berries in the house? Use strawberry jam instead!

SWAP OUT: Don't groove on strawberries? Use any red berry that tickles your fancy.