Boozy Zebra Cupcakes

I'm not a boxed mix kind of person. I much prefer to make things from scratch. Once in awhile though, I just want to do it from a box. Especially if I know something else in the process might take awhile, like this one. I also like to jazz the mix up a bit. Hence, the boozy part of these cupcakes. Now, they're not boozy in the sense that you feel drunk after eating them. They've just got booze for flavoring in them. I used whipped cream vodka to make the white cake a bit creamier tasting, and I used Kahlua and coffee for the Devil's Food cake. 


Zebra cakes are pretty intensive to make. Well.. Maybe not intense, just time consuming. And if you're anything like me, messy. They're worth the effort though. They turn out looking AWESOME. 

Look at the beauty! Check out the frosting too towards the end of the post. A zebra won't lose it's stripes! 


Ingredients:


1 box Pillsbury Moist Supreme White Cake Mix
1 box Pillsbury Moist Supreme Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/4 cup whipped cream vodka
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup oil
6 eggs, divided
1/4 cup Kahlua
1/4 cup brewed coffee
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water


Directions:


Preheat oven to 350º. 


In a medium bowl, mix together white cake mix, vodka, 3/4 cup water, 1/3 cup oil and 3 eggs until well combined. 


In another bowl, mix together devils food cake mix, Kahlua, coffee, 1/2 cup oil, 1 cup water, and the remaining 3 eggs until well combined. 


Line muffin tins with cupcake liners. I used both mini and regular sized for this recipe. It will make 24 regular cupcakes and 44 minis. Be prepared to share! 


Layer 1/2 tsp at a time in liners, alternating between chocolate and white cakes. The end product should look something like this:

They don't have to be perfect, by any means, but the stripes are best if you place each layer on top of the last. They'll spread out on their own from the weight of the layer above it. 


Bake the minis for 12-15 mins, regulars for 15-20. Let cool for 20-30 mins.




For the frosting, I used canned frosting. A shame, I know, but I really wanted to just make this easier. I did use a new technique I've been wanting to try out though - dual color/flavored frosting! I used a can of classic white frosting and chocolate fudge. This takes a total of 3 piping bags. 1 piping bag for each color, inserted into another bag. Make sure that the tips are down evenly in the outer bag, I learned that one the hard way. Finished product will look like:

(translation: cute)

If you wanted to make these even boozier, you could TOTALLY do a generic buttercream frosting for each color, using whipped cream vodka instead of milk in the white frosting and Kahlua in the brown!