Inspiration #87: Rainbow Cupcakes

It happens to be my boo's birthday today! Momentum towards our big day is starting to build since his family gets into town (in just 3 hours from now) and his friends from Florida arrived yesterday. Tonight, we're celebrating at Everett and Jones, a local BBQ fave, and he and the boys are hitting up the Pacific Coast Pinball Museum for a low-key bachelor party.

To kick off the celebration, I'm baking rainbow cupcakes but in our wedding colors -- so not so rainbow-y but fun to eat nonetheless. I got the recipe from my friend Britt Piehl (of Appeale via Living Eventfully).

Rainbow cupcake - Photo by Brittany Piehl

Mini Rainbow Cupcakes

• 1 box of white cake mix and all the needed ingredients
• Food gels
• Mini Baking Cups
• Ziploc Sandwich Bags
• 6 drinking cups
• Frosting: Premade, store bought, homemade or whipped cream

1. Line a mini cupcake pan with paper cups and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Prepare the cake as directed on the box.
4. Line 6 drinking cups with one Ziploc bag each.
5. Pour a scant cup of the cake mix into each bag.
6. Add one color of food gel to each bag.
7. Zip the bag closed and gently massage the bag of food gel and cake mix until there are no streaks left.
8. You can also place the cake mix into 6 small bowls, mix together with the food gels then place into the individual Ziploc bags.Whatever works for you.
9. Snip off one end of the Ziploc bag.
10. Squeeze about a dimes (or more for full size) worth plus a little more of the cake batter into each cupcake well.
11. Don't go crazy, remember you have 6 colors that need to fit into that tiny cup.
12. Use the drinking cup to place the bag of cake mix in upside down while not in use.
13. Upside down so the cake mix doesn't ooze out while your working with the other colors.
14. After each color goes into all of the wells, gently tap the cupcake pan against the counter top to help even out the layer of batter.
15. Once you have all of the colors in the wells, place pan in preheated oven and bake for about 12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
16. Allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
17. Frost with your favorite white frosting or top with whipped cream.

1. RAINBOW COLOR	DROPS OF FOOD COLORING
   Purple	9 red and 6 blue drops
   Blue	12 drops
   Green	12 drops
   Yellow	12 drops
   Orange	12 yellow and 4 red drops
   Red	18 drops