Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

rainbow cupcakes (tie-dyed)

(8 ratings)
Recipe by
Colleen Winegard
Keota, IA

I got this recipe from a friend a long time ago. These are SOOO fun to make, and the kids love to help. I have made these for St. Patrick's day and added a gold foil covered chocolate 'coin' on top, set on it's edge in the frosting. We also make these for EASTER instead of dyed eggs. I mean, who doesn't like cupcakes?? The batter coloring is a little time consuming, so I just 'cheat' and use a white cake box mix and follow the instructions for baking. For a more tie-dyed appearance...When you get the layers made, you can swirl a thin swizzle stick through the batter, but not too much, or they'll come out kinda greenish brown :S.

(8 ratings)
yield serving(s)
prep time 45 Min
cook time 15 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For rainbow cupcakes (tie-dyed)

  • CUPCAKES
  • 1 box
    white cake mix (for crisper colors, use the no-yolks instructions)
  • FROSTING
  • 1 can
    premade frosting - white looks best
  • or
  • for the best creamy frosting use the following: (tastes like twinkie filling, but not grainy)
  • 1/2 c
    milk
  • 2 Tbsp
    flour
  • 1/2 c
    butter
  • 1/2 c
    shortening
  • 1/2 c
    granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp
    vanilla extract

How To Make rainbow cupcakes (tie-dyed)

  • 1
    Mix the white cake box mix according to the no-yolk (WHITE) recipe
  • 2
    get 6 small bowls and divide batter evenly into each
  • 3
    add food coloring to make the following colors: purple (blue/red), blue, green (blue/yellow), yellow, orange (yellow/red) and red.
  • 4
    line the appropriate # of muffin tin with paper cups. You may want to spray a small amount of non-stick spray into each paper cup to aid in removal after baking.
  • 5
    carefully layer each color into each cup attempting to get each layer as much over the previous layer as possible (to the edges). Or if you don't care how straight they are..just HAVE FUN. If you want a more tie-dyed look, once the colors are in the cups, slowly and carefully swirl with a swizzle stick, but no too much, or all the colors will over mix .. who wants brownish green cupcakes??
  • 6
    bake according to box mix directions for cup-cakes. while baking - make the FROSTING....
  • 7
    FROSTING DIRECTIONS:
  • 8
    in a small sauce pan, cook the milk & flour together until a smooth paste forms, STIRRING constantly over medium heat. Remove from heat and LET COOL completely. you may even want to put it in the fridge or even freezer to speed up the cooling process.
  • 9
    in another bowl, cream softened butter & shortening together, and gradually add the sugar. Beat until fluffy - this could take up to 5 minutes - but it's well worth the time & effort
  • 10
    add the completely COOLED flour/mix paste to the above butter/sugar mixture, and beat until the consistency of whipped cream (this will take a while)
  • 11
    add vanilla and mix well
  • 12
    spread frosting on cupcakes - store in a closed container in a cool place
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