you're making mealtime meaningful.
Summertime has long been a fun respite from daily life for most kids. Along with going swimming and being free from schoolwork, there was also the thrill of the ice cream truck or stand. While you might see orange sherbet or a box of Neapolitan in the freezer at home, Bomb Pops were pretty much only a summertime delicacy reserved for when the ice cream man came around. Now, you can have this fun treat in cupcake form (and it won’t melt all over your hands).
Bomb Pops have that signature sweet and indistinct fruity taste, with a touch of citrus. These cupcakes also have a fun combination of fruit flavors thanks to fresh lime zest and lemon pudding in the batter. Both of these ingredients add a nice zing to the cupcakes.
Back in the old days what we really loved about Bomb Pops were the colors, which can be achieved at home in the frosting using red and blue food coloring. This also gives these cupcakes a very patriotic look that’s perfect for the 4th of July. And, the frosting also has some secret ingredients that add to the fun: cherry and raspberry Kool-Aid mix. This really gives the cupcakes a nostalgic taste you might not have known you were missing.
Of course, you’ll need to have enough icing bags and piping tips on hand so that you don’t mix the colors up. The same is true for bowls and spoons for mixing the colors and flavors into the frosting. If you mix them up you’ll get purple which won’t change the taste, but will ruin the visual effect of red, white, and blue frosting.
If you’re looking for a tasty way to celebrate America’s birthday then try these cupcakes for a wonderful change of pace this Independence Day.
Bomb Pop Cupcakes
Yield(s): Makes 24 cupcakes
40m prep time
15m cook time
15m inactive
Allergens: Gluten
you're making mealtime meaningful.
For the cupcakes
- 1 15-ounce box white cake mix, vanilla or angel food works well
- 1 3.4-ounce box instant lemon pudding
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup water
- zest of half a lime
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
For the frosting
- 4 sticks butter, softened
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cherry drink mix powder, like Kool-aid
- 1 1/2 teaspoons blue raspberry lemonade drink mix powder
- 3/4 teaspoon lime juice
- blue gel food coloring
- red gel food coloring
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350˚. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, water, lime zest, and oil until well blended.
- Fill muffin cups 2/3 each with batter and bake for about 15 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from pan and allow to cool completely before icing.
- Beat together butter and cream with electric mixer until well mixed. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
- Separate icing equally into three bowls. Leave one white, add a few drops of blue food coloring to one, and a few drops of red to another until desired colors are achieved.
- Into the white icing mix the lime juice, adding more powdered sugar if icing becomes too thin. Into the blue icing mix the raspberry drink mix. Into the red icing mix the cherry drink mix.
- Load three separate icing bags with each of the icings. Pipe the blue color onto the cupcakes first, followed by the white, and finally the red. Do not mix the icing colors at any point. Using a star tip will help to create the “Bomb Pop” effect.
Recipe adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.