Rainbow Cupcakes

I just made these yesterday for my little sisters 17th birthday. She loves rainbows and is just a happy and fun person so I wanted to capture that.

This inside of these are also rainbow. I just didn't cut them open because there for her party this weekend. I'll get a photo once they are being eaten :)

So to make these I used a basic white cake recipe:

1 c. white sugar - granulated.

1/2 c. butter (1 stick)

2 eggs

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 c. milk

Make sure to pre-heat your oven to 350 deg.

In a mixing bowl cream together the butter & sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time & then add the vanilla. In another bowl combine flour & baking powder and then add to the creamed mixture & mix until all is combined. Then add milk until the batter is smooth (no lumps!)

Also if using a cake pan make sure it's greased and floured so your cake won't stick!

I then divided the cake batter evenly into 6 bowls. I used paper bowls to avoid dishes since I hate doing dishes. I then added food coloring to each bowl: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple. I used the wilton icing gel but you can use whatever you prefer.

I lined my cupcake pan with red foil liners and then begun layering the cake batter. I spooned into each cupcake liner a bit of purple frosting then smoothed it out and continued with blue, green, orange, yellow and topped it off with red. My awesome boyfriend helped me out by doing a whole cupcake pan by himself. And in truth his came out a little better then mine! Anyways...Bake for 20 min. This all depends on your oven though.. I'd set a time for 18 min and check on them & if they are not done continue cooking. Shouldn't take more then 25 min at the most.

I then made some basic buttercream:

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (you can use 1 tsp vanilla extract but I like the vanilla taste so I use a little bit more)

4 c. sifted powder sugar

3-4 tbsp milk (the amount of milk you use depends on what consistency of icing you are trying to achieve for a thinner icing use more milk for a thicker use less)

1st- cream together shortening & butter then add vanilla & mix well. Begin adding sugar 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time. Make sure to scrape down the sides & bottom of the bowl so everything is getting mixed in. Keep adding sugar until all 4 cups are incorporated. I then add milk. I usually use about 3 tablespoons. You can also add the milk in after each addition of sugar if you prefer.

I then divided the frosting evenly between 6 bowls, dyed it Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple & threw it all into a piping bag and frosted the cupcakes.

These cupcakes were super messy but a lot of fun and I think they look amazing but that is just my biased opinion ;)

With love,

Cheri