Tie-Dye Cupcakes

So, I love to bake.  Love it.  When I was a little girl I begged and begged for an Easy Bake Oven.  Every year I circled the JCPenney's Christmas catalog around the coveted plastic oven.  Every year a piece of my heart died.  Every birthday, I begged my mom for the gold, magic box.  What little girl wouldn't want to make little cakes baked by light bulbs?  Magical.  My mom sighed and said, "Why would want to bake with that when we bake with that big oven in there? You can bake anytime you want?" So I did.

I recently posted a picture of tie dye cupcakes that I made for my sweet niece, Analee's 7th birthday party, on Facebook and there were a lot of questions on the process.  So I thought I'd make a little tutorial.

Analee-isn't she sweet?

So here goes...

First, start with your favorite vanilla cake batter.  It really doesn't matter if you use mix or make it from scratch or a combo of the two. I much prefer things made from scratch, but it's really preference and time.  

Separate the batter evenly into six bowls.

Add food coloring according to the rainbow.  I prefer Americolor gel food coloring over any other.  You don't need to use a lot, you don't break your arm stirring the batter (or frosting), and the batter (or frosting) doesn't lose it's consistency because you're stirring it so much.  It's a phenomenal product. In Janesville, the only place that sells this is Hobby Lobby. However, you can find it every where online. 

  

Ok, so after you've mixed the batter (using the rainbow colors-red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple-if you want to use indigo knock yourself out) pour each color into its own disposable pastry bag.  You can find these at a craft store that sells cake supplies; Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnn's, even WalMart carries them.  Or you can get them online.

You have to snip the tip off the end of each bag.  I have a very small kitchen, so I have to utilize the space wisely.  So, instead of laying the bags down, and consequently having the batter oozing all over the place, I put them in glasses.

They don't have to match.  Obviously.

Prepare your muffin tins either by greasing the tins or by putting liners in.  I start with the purple and work my way to the red, placing a dollop in each cup, and then repeating the process until they're filled.

When they are about 2/3's filled I take the back of a spoon and swirl it around a little bit to get them so they're tie-dyeish. A tooth pick will do the trick too.  

Finished! Let them cool completely before you frost them. 

Ok, so make your favorite frosting.  I made a cream cheese one for these.  But you can make a butter cream too.  If you decide to use store bought, I would suggest to add powdered sugar to it to thicken it up.

Now comes the fun part.  :)

We're going to use the food coloring again, all six colors, but we'll need another disposable pastry bag and a paint brush.  Just a tiny one.  You can even use one of those water color ones from your kids' last year school supply.  Just make sure you wash it really well in soapy water.  Obviously.

Get a small dessert plate and squirt a small amount of food coloring, making sure none of the colors touch. That probably doesn't matter, that's just the OCD in me.

Dab your paint brush in each color and "paint" a stripe down the inside of your bag.  Repeat with each color, wiping off your brush between each application.  I didn't go in the order of the rainbow around the bag.  I didn't want one side to be "muddy" with purple, blue and green touching.  So I alternated light and dark.  But it's tie dye.  You can do whatever you want.

After your bag is striped, add your frosting.  Cut the tip off the end and pipe onto the cupcake.  Now, you can do a swirl, or whatever.  I just dropped it down and made two little "plops." haha I thought it showed the tie dye off more.  But it's certainly personal preference.  

That's it!  Easy peasy.  You can do this with a cake too.  Just divide the cake batter into 6 bowls.  Add the food color.  Put the color in the pan by scoops this time.  And swirl with the back of a spoon.  They come out awesome.  When you stack the layers, just stagger them so the colors don't line up, so when you cut into it, it's all swirly.  Very cool effect.

I just love that food coloring because it keeps the same vibrancy as it has before baking.

I hope I've passed on a little of my passion for baking along to you!  Enjoy!

Oh.  By the way, I did end up getting an Easy Bake Oven.  I bought one for my daughter.  I used it more than she did.  :)