Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

My hubby's birthday is coming up and we were having lunch with his parents, so I made these little beauties for dessert. They take some work, but they're actually easier than they look once you get the hang of it. I even got fancy and used a baggie to pipe the frosting on. They were a big success!

Chocolate strawberry cupcakes! 

Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix, plus additional ingredients as directed on the box
1 can of strawberry pie filling
1 can chocolate frosting

Prepare the chocolate cake mix according to the box directions and bake as cupcakes. It should make 20-24 cupcakes. Let cupcakes cool completely.

With a butter knife, cut a small circle on top of a cupcake, about an inch deep, and lift it out. Pull off about half of what is attached and set it aside. Open the can of strawberry pie filling, scoop out of spoonful, and carefully pour it into the hole in the cupcake. Replace the top and repeat for the remainder of the cupcakes, trying to make sure every cupcake gets at least one strawberry. See picture below for a visual step by step of the process.

Once all the cupcakes have been filled, scoop about 3/4 of the can of frosting into a small mixing bowl. Add the gel from the leftover strawberry filling, and whip thoroughly with an electric mixer. If you have a frosting pipe, use it to pipe frosting onto cupcakes; if not, scoop the frosting into a plastic zipper baggie, cut off the tip, and squeeze out the frosting in swirls on the cupcakes. Serve and enjoy!

Filling the cupcakes