Strawberry Tuxedo Cupcakes Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place liners in 60 mini muffin tins-5 pans.

Prepare cake mix as directed, using mixed berry juice instead of water, adding the extra cocoa, eggs, red food coloring and oil.

Fill cupcake pans only three quarters full.

You don't want high rounded tops on these little cupcakes, You want them flat so that the strawberries will sit on them.

Bake 13 to 14 minutes.

Cool on wire racks.

Whip the canned frosting adding the almond extract. Set aside.

Prepare two double boilers with simmering water, melt chips separately in each bowl.

Add a tsp of oil to each bag of melting chips, stir well.

Dip the front face of each strawberry in the melted white cocoa chips.

Set on wax paper lined cookie sheet.

Chill strawberries until the white chocolate sets.

Dip each chilled strawberry diagonally in the dark chocolate from each side to just cover the white part leaving a white triangle center and dark chocolate corners.

Place on wax paper lined cookie sheet, chill unti chocolate sets.

Using small round tip on the purchased red frosting tube, pipe little dots and one "x" as the bow tie on each strawberry.

(this is very hard to do with minor arthritic hands, by the way)

Frost each cupcake with enough of the frosting to make a base for the strawberry and kind of glue it into place.

Add the strawberry topper to each cup cake.

Transport is difficult, it can be done with a white shirt box lined with foil and twisted plastic wrap in coils around the outer side of the box to keep the berries from toppling.

Hope you win the silly contest because it is very late.