Rainbow Cupcakes!

Hi guys! I took a break from cookie making this month to relax, clear my head and give my poor hands a break from squeezing those little icing bags and bottles. (I don’t know how every cake/cookie decorator in the world doesn’t have carpal tunnel. Geesh!) However, a month is a long time and I just couldn’t stay out of the kitchen a minute longer!(and it’s also the last week before my month long sugar fast….I know, I’m sure you’re thinking I’m crazy, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I was reading Pioneer Woman’s blog the other day and she mentioned she was going to try it, so I thought, hey, why not? Who wouldn’t want prettier skin, shinier hair and loads of natural energy, not to mention a bit of weight loss! ;) And a month isn’t too terribly long, but then I realized I picked the world’s worst month to try this little challenge. EEK! Halloween! What was I thinking!?! But maybe it’s the best time to do it…..I’ll let you know how it went on November first. Anyhoo, back to the cupcakes.

We’ve had one of those Betty Crocker Cupcakes and Cakes mini books floating around the office for a while and I’ve been eyeballing a few I wanted to test out. One of the girls at the work is leaving, so of course we had a little party and she decided she wanted the rainbow cupcakes as dessert. I hopped right on board! I love rainbows and these looked fairly easy to make!


Ingredients:

1 Box Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix

Water, vegetable oil and egg whites called for on cake mix box

Food Colors (red, orange, yellow, green and blue)

2 Containers (1lb each) Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy white frosting (I accidentally grabbed the whipped version and they turned out pretty well)

Orange Extract (This was my addition, so you can substitute any extract flavoring you want or leave it out.)


Cupcake Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350F (325F for dark or nonstick pans).

2. Place paper baking cups in your cupcake pan. (The recipe says it will make 24 cupcakes, but I only got 18 out of mine.)

3. Make cake mix as directed on box for cupcakes, using water, oil and egg whites.

4. Add 2 tsp orange extract.

5. Divide batter evenly into 5 bowls.

6. Mix a different food color in each bowl.

7. Place 1 tsp of each color batter into each muffin cup, layering the colors in order of the rainbow. DO NOT STIR!!! They should be about ½ to ¾ of the way full.

(When I made mine I misread the directions and used a tablespoon instead, oops! But they turned out PERFECT, so I recommend using a tablespoon instead.)

8. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

9. Cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks and let cool completely.

{Can you believe how perfectly poofy these suckers turned out?!? Me neither! My cupcakes are NEVER this pretty...okay, I'm done ranting! :) }


Frosting Instructions:

1. Spoon frosting out of both containers into a medium bowl.

2. Mix in 2 tsp orange extract.

3. Divide frosting evenly between 3 small bowls.

4. Tint one red, one yellow and one blue.

5. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

6. In a large disposable decorating bag fitted with a #6 star tip (I used a larger tip, I believe it was a Wilton 1M)

7. Spoon each color of frosting side by side in bag, alternating colors and working up from the tip of the bag. Don’t stir them together.

(Sorry there's no picture. It was quite messy because I filled my bag with a little too much frosting. I was just a bit excited to use more than one color on a cupcake.)

8. Twist the top of the bag closed and start frosting. You might get a lot of one color when you first start but the others will eventually come out, just keep squeezing!

9. You want to start on the outside edge and swirl in towards the center ending in a small peak.

I think the colors on these are to die for! The computer just doesn't do them justice.