Rainbow Cupcakes

I'm making cupcakes for my sister-in-law's upcoming wedding in July. For her birthday last year, I made this yummy rainbow birthday cake. She absolutely loved it and requested it for her wedding. 


In addition to the bright wild colors, the cake is super moist and has a wonderful vanilla flavor. The whipped cream cream cheese frosting is light and fluffy with the perfect amount of sweetness. It's a cake mix cake, but it's so delicious that you devour every bite and don't think twice about what's in it.


The bride-to-be decided it would be fun to do cupcakes for the wedding instead of cake. So, I decided to do a test run on the recipe to make sure it would work come nuptial day.


Below is the colorful batter ready for the oven.

They all puffed up nicely with slightly crisp edges that were really tasty!

The cupcakes themselves turned out very moist and fluffy. I hate dry, dense cupcakes. Blah.

This whipped cream frosting is sooo good! It's light and creamy and goes really well with the cupcakes. The only problem is that whipped cream frosting can be a bit runny which makes it impossible to pipe. Since this frosting is so delicious, I tried using a stabilized whipped cream to see if that would thicken the frosting enough to pipe it. And...it worked!! So, this is the recipe I'll use for the wedding!! 

Here are some cute mini cupcakes my daughter made with her little cupcake pan. 

Someone decided to snitch a bit of frosting while I was taking pictures. Made me giggle.

I think these cupcakes are so cute and fun! Perfect for a birthday party or any occasion really. Plus, you can color the batter any way you want.

 I'm excited to make these psychedelic but oh-so-tasty cupcakes for the wedding!

Moist White Cake
Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.


* I use a french vanilla cake mix and add a teaspoon of vanilla.

Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions
In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.


* I used 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar instead of the granulated sugar and stabilized whipped cream to help thicken up the frosting. Worked well. Also, chill your mixing bowl and beaters before whipping the cream.

Southern Coconut Cake

I've been on a cake kick lately. Sometimes I go through baking phases and focus on one type of dessert, like cookies or cupcake, etc. For the last month, it's been cake. I rounded out my cake swing with this delicious coconut cake and it definitely filled my craving. Layers of moist coconut cake are filled with coconut cream and topped with a real cream cheese buttercream frosting and piled with flaked coconut. Divine!

I made this cake for a little family party we had at our house for my little girl. Since it's a fairly sophisticated cake, I piped some pink and purple flowers on it in honor of the pint-sized birthday girl.



I used two 8x8 round pans for the cake. After they cooled, I cut each cake in half crosswise to make four layers. With the extra coconut milk leftover from the cake batter, I made a coconut whipped cream filling that I used for the top and bottom layers. The middle layer got a generous crowning of extra buttercream frosting.

After all the layers are filled and stacked they get a generous coating of frosting and coconut.

It's hard to see in the photo below, but I sprinkled silver sanding sugar on top of the coconut to give it a pretty sparkle. This cake would be gorgeous with or without piping and decorations.

Everyone loved this cake! It's moist and rich and bursting with coconut flavor. The frosting is just amazing( a lot of work, but worth it). You have to try this cake.

Slice * Smile * Enjoy

Southern Coconut Cake

From Sky High Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Inspired by Completelydelicious.com

Makes one 8-inch layered cake

5 egg whites

1/2 cup milk

1-2 tablespoons coconut flavoring or extract*

3 cups cake flour

2 1/3 cups sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

For the Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese, slightly chilled

1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper (The original recipe is for a triple layer cake, but I only have two 8-inch pans and so I adjusted the cooking time for two thicker layers instead of three thinner layers.)

Put the egg whites in a bowl and whisk slightly. Add the 1/2 cup milk and coconut flavoring and mix thoroughly. Set aside.

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and coconut milk and combine on low speed. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the egg white mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing just long enough to incorporate between additions. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto cooling racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, put the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed until fluffy and smooth. Add the butter 1-2 tablespoons at a time, mixing until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until creamy. Set aside.

Combine the granulated sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

Meanwhile, have the egg white in the bowl of an electric mixer, ready for when the syrup is at the proper temperature. Slowly add the hot syrup to the egg whites, while mixing on medium-low. Take care not to cause the hot syrup to splash. When all of the syrup is incorporated, raise the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture has cooled to body-temperature and it forms stiff peaks.

With the mixer on medium-low, add the cream cheese and butter mixture one spoonful at a time. When all is incorporated, raise the speed to medium and whip until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

Frost the cooled cakes and cover with shredded coconut.

* For the coconut whipped cream filling I whipped one cup of chilled heavy whipping cream until soft peaks formed and then added the remaining coconut milk leftover from the cake batter, 1/4 tsp coconut extract and a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar. I whipped this mixture until stiff and frosted the bottom and top layers of the cake.

Keep the Cake Coming!

I know, I know. I've posted about this cake like three times now! It's just that I've gone to three birthday parties recently and they all requested that I bring a dessert and this cake was just fitting. For each party though, I decorated the cakes completely different and they've all turned out pretty neat and everyone absolutely loved them. So, why not?  That's why I love this recipe, it's very versatile. You can make the cake batter any color to fit any theme and there are countless ways to frost and decorate the cake.


My latest creation....

Here's how to do it...

Take your white cake batter and divide it between as many bowls as you want colors. Add gel or liquid dye to each bowl and stir with a spoon and see what you get. Add more coloring if you want a more vibrant hue.

Oooohhh

Aaaahhhh

WEeeeee

Once you have all your colorful batter mixed...

Just spoon medium-sized dollops into your greased (I like Pam baking spray) cake pan. I chose to use a 12-cup bundt pan.

Keep layering the batter...

...and layering, until you run out. I like to tap my pan to make sure all the batter settles. Then bake your cake according to your recipe.

While the cake bakes, make a tasty frosting. I choose this whipped cream cream cheese frosting and it was delicious! Slightly sweet and perfectly fluffy.

And once the cake has completely cooled, frost and decorate as desired. 

After I frosted mine, I made a purple glaze out of powdered sugar, vanilla, milk and purple dye. I drizzled that over the top of the frosting and then sprinkled on Betty Crocker pearl Cupcake Gems.

For fun I added a fruity center by tossing blueberries, strawberries, cherries and blackberries with a little powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla. This cake is delicious on its own, but the fruity center just adds a little something.

My favorite part of this cake is cutting into it and seeing all the crazy designs! How fun is that?

Now, make a wish!

For the cake recipe, click here. Also, I like to add vanilla and a splash of almond extract when using a cake mix.

Rainbow Cake

Here's a fun cake for any occasion. It's really simple to do and kids love all the crazy colors. This would be a great cake to make for the fourth of July, using red, white and blue coloring for the cake.

Take a standard white cake mix batter and divide it up into bowls (for as many colors as you have). 

Squirt in the coloring and let the kiddos mix it up. Gel colors will give you a more vibrant solid color than food coloring liquid.

I used a bundt pan, but any pan works fine. Just layer globs of batter in any pattern.

Bake as directed...

Frost and decorate as desired...

(my girls chose pink frosting with sprinkles)

And when you cut into the cake, you get a different colorful rainbow in each slice. How cool is that?

Moist White Cake

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.