Foodie Friday: Rainbow Cupcakes

I picked up a copy of Disney's Family Fun magazine yesterday in a waiting room.  No wonder I often see recipes ripped from the pages of magazines, while I only see the torn shreds left behind.  I happened on this recipe.  

Image from http://familyfun.go.com/

So, since my preschooler had just been drawing rainbows in school, we had to try it

Here is how ours turned out.  I only had a big muffin pan and the Disney cupcakes were made with a standard size muffin/cupcake pan.  The main fun with this recipe was to let my preschooler see the colors going into the cake batter and to let him mix the batter to create the rainbow colors.  The color chart below is a guide, and it is pretty accurate.  The cake batter colors will get darker on baking.  I still added more red drops to the orange and red cake batter to achieve my results.  The other thing I suggest, is to shake your batter down in the pan before baking.  You might get a lot of air pockets in the cupcakes if your don't (due to all the layered batter) and they won't have the smooth rainbow layers.  

Ingredients

• White cake mix (we used an 18-1/4-ounce box)
• Food coloring (red, blue, green, and yellow)

• Baking cups
• Whipped cream (optional)

 

Instructions

1. Prepare your favorite white cake mix, then divide the batter evenly among six small bowls. Following the chart below, dye each bowl of batter a rainbow color.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   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

   
   
   
2. Line 16 muffin pan wells with baking cups. Evenly distribute the purple batter among the cups, then the blue, and so on, following the order shown. As you go, gently spread each layer of batter with the back of a spoon to cover the color underneath.
   
3. Bake the cupcakes according to your recipe directions. Before serving, remove the paper wrapping, and if you like, top each cupcake with a whipped-cream cloud.
   

 I would say that you might only get 12 standard size cupcakes out of this recipe.  I had to go easy on the batter and when you are done layering the cupcake papers will be up to if not over the top a little.  I also used whipped white icing to top mine.  

Have fun baking in the kitchen with your preschooler!  An activity like this is perfect for their little hands.  

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.  Please go over and see what everyone is cooking.