Friday, March 15, 2013

All the Colors of the Rainbow Mini Cupcakes

I was inspired by Betty Crocker's Cupcake Poppers and tried it.  Loved the colors but hated the waste.  To make these cute little poppers, you make mini cupcakes and cut them in half and just use the tops to make these cute little bites.  Two issues:  1) what do you do with the bottom half of the cupcakes (I guess it would make a beautiful triffle, mini triffle or cake pops) and, 2) when you pick up these little bites, the cake sticks to your fingers (which is my pet peeve about whoopie pies).  So my thought, why not make them into mini cupcakes with matching frosting.

It was from this recipe that I found one of my most favorite frostings!  Marshmallow buttercream is fantastic!!! 
 
Here is how I made these lovely mini cupcakes.
 
Prepare a white cake mix according to the directions using the egg white version.  Divide the batter into bowls for however many colors you are planning to make.  This will make about 60 mini cupcakes.
 
I have three tips here for this next step. 
  1. If using color gels that are in a container (not squeeze), use toothpicks to get the gel out and swirl in the batter and STOP! Discard that toothpick and if you need to add more color, get a new toothpick and repeat until the desired color is reached. If you double dip your toothpick, you will contaminate your gel (safety first! LOL). 
  2. Color your batter darker than what you want the end result to look like.  When you bake the cupcakes, they will get a little lighter during the baking process. 
  3. If you want to "preview" your colors, bake one of each color to see how it will look after it is baked since the colors will change.  This way you will not have baked the whole colored batch and you wish you would have made them darker and at that point, it is too late.

We have all made cupcakes before, but for those who have not, prepare a mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners and fill each cupcake 3/4 full (about a tablespoon).  My speed fill method is to place the batter into a plastic zipseal bag (place baggie in a mug or glass and scrape batter into the bag and seal).  When ready to fill the paper liners, holding bag in your hand with the zipped side down and one point up, snip the corner creating an opening large enough to pipe out the batter.  If you are going to test the colors by baking a test cupcake, use the speed fill after this test just in case you need to adjust the colors.
Baked mini cupcakes.  Pictured on the right is three cupcakes with leftover colored batter mixed.
 
Bake at 350 degrees for 11 to 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Allow to cool for a few minutes and take a fork to help remove the cupcakes from the pan to finish cooling.  Cook remainder of the cupcakes.
 
Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting
(Adapted from Betty Crocker's Marshmallow Frosting)

1 cup (2 sticks) room temperature butter
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow creme
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp. milk
 
In a large bowl (or stand mixer) cream together butter and marshmallow creme with a mixer.  Add powder sugar and 2 Tbsp. milk and mix on low speed until the powder sugar is no longer loose and increase mixer to medium speed until fluffy and smooth about 2 minutes.  If frosting is too firm, you can add up to another tablespoon of milk to make it easier to pipe but add a little at a time.
 
Divide frosting up evenly for however many colors of cupcakes you have and color.  Load into piping bags loaded with a coupler to make it easier to change the piping tip.  I used the Wilton 106 tip that kind of looks like a pinwheel on top.  Don't cover up the entire top of the cupcake because that is the part of the presentation to see that the colors of both the cake and frosting are so vibrant. Pipe in a circular motion starting with an outer circle working inwards and upwards.  Finish with rainbow jimmies.
 
Remember when you divide cake mix and frosting, you are not going to have exactly enough cupcakes to the color of frosting.  You can see that I tried to do a tie dye effect on the leftover cake batter and frosting.
Three cupcakes on the right are tie dye cake and frosting from the leftovers







 

6 comments:

  1. I just love these cupcakes! The colors are fantastic! I am like you and would not like wasting the bottoms!

    Thank you for linking up to the In and Out of the Kitchen party! I can't what to see what you bring to the party next week!

    Cynthia at http://FeedingBig.com

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  2. Love these bright and cheerful colors! So fun. Thanks for sharing these at Two Cup Tuesday at Pint Sized Baker.

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  3. I saw such cupcakes only on pictures, but, I have never thought to cook them myself. I need to correct this situation in future.

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  4. My business was still struggling so I couldn't afford to spend a bunch of money on something I would only use a few times and toss in a cabinet. food processor

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