Strawberry FUN da-middles "Shortcake"

A while back, the Pint-Sized Baker shared at Scrumptious Sunday her Raspberry Lemon Fun-da-Middles.  I tought to myself, FUN-DA-WHAT?!?  I read her blog post (like I do all my Scrumptious Sunday submissions...there are so many great recipes there!)  and she had a picture of a box for Fun-da-Middles.  Clearly something we don't have here in Canada (or I have never seen them at the grocery store).  Fortunately for me, my parents happened to be in the States when I read the post, so I emailed my Mom a picture and asked, "Can you please bring a box home for me?" And she did, not one, not two, but THREE boxes.  She didn't know what flavour I wanted, so she bought one of each that the store had.  Awesome! Thanks Mom!
Fast forward a few weeks and it was time to try making some.  I didn't feel like making icing, and since I didn't know what to expect inside the box (or cupcakes) in terms of flavour (I didn't want the icing to distract), and I had strawberries and whipping cream on hand, I decided to make some Strawberry FUN da-middles Shortcake for us for dessert!  Here is what I did:

Cupcakes:
1 box FUN da-middles, yellow cupcake mix
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup oil

Bake cupcakes according to the directions on the box. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with 12 paper baking cups. Mix cupcake mix, water, oil and eggs. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds then at medium for 2 minutes. Fill each cupcake cup 1/3 full with batter (approx 1/8 cup). Make sure the batter completely covers the bottom of the cup. "Warm" the filling pouch by squeezing/massaging it for about 2 minutes. Cut open the pouch at the cut line, and squeeze the filling amongst the 12 cupcakes. Do not let the filling touch the sides of the cups. Spoon the remaining batter over the top of the 12 cupcakes, ensuring the filling is completely covered. Bake for 24-29 minutes or until tops are light golden brown.

Toppings:
4 cups fresh strawberries, washed and cut

Whipping Cream:
I don't use any measurements when I make whipping cream, just a little of this, a lot of that.
Whipping cream
Vanilla (to taste)
Sugar (to taste)

After my cupcakes were baked and cooled, and it was time for dessert, I removed the paper liner and served the cupcake with the fresh whipping cream and strawberries. 

VERDICT:
It was a nice light strawberry shortcake-like treat.  Our son, who doesn't usually eat cake did eat about half of the cupcake.  He wasn't so sure about the filling. And actually he also kept saying he wanted me to make the chocolate ones (next time, kid!).  My husband and I thought they were fun, the little marshmallowy surprise in the middle and topped with the whip and strawberries.