Rainbow Cupcake Weekend

Tad and I had a "relaxing" weekend filled with family and friends. I put relaxing in quotations because while it was fun and relaxing at the time, by Sunday evening we were both pooped. We ended the weekend spending Sunday night on the couch watching TV and eating take-out. I love weekends like these.

Here's what we did this weekend:

- Friday night- watched Pirates of the Caribbean

- Saturday- Slept in, baked 50 cupcakes, went to our cousin's wedding in Long Beach, went out for a late night drinks in Culver City with friends

- Sunday- Slept in, frosted 50 cupcakes, then went to our niece's birthday party in the park
- I took also took tons of photos all weekend- good practicing for my photo class!

Since I spent lots of time baking and frosting cupcakes this weekend, I thought I'd share them with you. I decided to bake a version of the rainbow-in-a-jar recipe I posted here, but this time I turned them into cupcakes. I made a "cooked" frosting for the first time and it turned out awesome- probably a new favorite recipe for me! It totally held its shape and tasted wonderful- like marshmallows but it wasn't made of them...maybe because it was so white and fluffy? What better way to celebrate a kid's birthday than with bright, colorful, and fun treats?

These cupcakes were a hit with both kids and adults alike! I got lots of questions on how to make them- I just told them to refer to my blog ;) Here are the instructions:

Cake Recipe:

- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

- 1 1/2 cups sugar

- 2 cups flour

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 6 egg whites

- 3/4 cup milk

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

** boxed cake also works great or you can just use your favorite white cake recipe**

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. In a mixing bow, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy and set aside

3. In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside

4. Combine egg whites, milk, and vanilla- add 1/3 flour mixture then half the milk mixture. Keep alternating beginning and ending with the flour mixture

5. Divide the batter into 5 bowls and tint each with food coloring (purple, blue, green, yellow, red/pink- I used neon color)

6. Layer each color into the cupcake tins, filling only a little more than 1/2 way (cupcakes will rise when baking)- you can be as precise in the layering as you want, or just "glob" them into the cups.

7. Bake for about 12-16 minutes

Frosting Recipe:

- 1cup white sugar

- 1/3 cup water

- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

- 2 egg whites

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Stir together sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves

2. Beat egg whites and vanilla to soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar mixture while whipping until stiff peaks form (about 6-8 minutes)