Patriotic Jello Poke Cupcakes

Patriotic Jello Poke Cupcakes are the classic poke cake recipe in a cupcake form. This Fourth of July dessert recipe includes Jello and Cool Whip.

Surprise!  The 4th of July is next week!  Okay, so maybe it isn’t a surprise for you but for some reason it sneaks up on me every year.  I think it is because it is right at the beginning of the month so I’m still thinking about June when really I should be planning ahead.  So, I decided I had do at least a few 4th of July desserts, recipes and/or crafts before it is too late!  I started off by making a variation of the classic Jello Poke Cake.

Instead of making a cake I decided to make cupcakes and use more than one Jello flavor.

Zack was the only one home with me and he decided to help.  We started by making cupcakes from a plain white boxed mix.

After letting them cool, we mixed 1 cup of boiling water with 1 package of berry blue Jello and 1 cup of boiling water with 1 package of strawberry Jello for 2 minutes following a poke cake recipe from Kraft.  After the 2 minutes, we added 1/2 cup cold water and mixed well.  Later I discovered that Kraft has their own Patriotic Poke Cake recipe that is a little different than the one we followed.

Then we poked holes in the cupcakes with the end of a beater from a handheld mixer.  We gave the cupcakes liquid Jello shots from a syringe.

Be careful not to add too much of the Jello liquid to the cupcakes or they will end up soggy.  Place the cupcakes in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.

I had left over Jello liquid and didn’t know what to do with it.  Then, I noticed the recipe on the Jello box for Jello mousse.  So, I mixed Cool Whip into the left over Jello.  The recipe on the box says 1 1/2 cups of boiling water, 1 package of Jello and 8 oz of Cool Whip.  So, I adjusted the amount of Cool Whip I mixed in by how much liquid I had left.

The Magic Mousse recipe says you need to cool it in the fridge for 8 hours.  I am too impatient to wait for 8 hours, so I stuck the bowls in the freezer until the mousse firmed up.

Once the cupcakes and the mousse was ready, I piped the blue Jello mousse on the cupcakes.

Then I added the red mousse.

And I topped them with a Cool Whip star.

Awww…aren’t they adorable

Zack wanted to eat all of them!

When unwrapped, you can see the red and blue Jello.

I always take a long time to get the pictures I want and the Jello Mousse frosting and Cool Whip star held up surprisingly well but these cupcakes should be stored in the fridge until ready to serve.