Cherry Cheese Cupcakes

For the Fourth of July we had a BBQ at our house and I wanted to make a treat. I saw all over the blogs these amazing cupcakes. So I thought I would follow suit and make cupcakes for our get together. In college, I went to a graduation party and they served this wonderful sheet cake. It was a white cake with a fluffy icing and cherry pie filling. So yummy. I asked my friend for the recipe and thought these would be perfect because they are red and white. And I could easily turn it into cupcakes.

Cherry Cheese Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix and ingredients to make the cake

2 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

4 c. powdered sugar

16 oz. cool-whip topping

1 can cherry pie filling

Prepare cupcake pans and make cake mix according to package directions. Bake cupcakes and allow to cool.

Combine cream cheese and sugar. Mix until it is light and fluffy. Gently fold in the cool-whip. Using a butter knife cut a small x in the top of the cupcakes. Fill cupcakes using a decorator's tip and piping bag or plastic bag, push tip into x and squeezing filling in. Frost cupcakes and top with a couple cherries.

Tips:

-For the Fourth of July I wanted red and blue too. So I colored some of the batter blue and red. I used the paste food coloring so the consistency of the batter was not altered.

-We had a lot of kids coming so I also made mini cupcakes and filled them the same. Each got one cherry and they were perfect for little hands.

-To make this a sheet cake bake the cake in a large sheet pan for 20 minutes and let cool. Spread frosting and top with the pie filling.

-I can imagine that these would be wonderful with fresh strawberries, raspberries or blueberries instead of the pie filling. Any of those pie fillings would also be delicious too.