I love involving my kids when baking, and this time we got to make some bright-colored rainbow cupcakes that they wanted to top with whipped cream! Yummy!

Why I decided to make the cupcakes //

You have a playdate, and there are 4 children and 1 adult. How do you keep them busy and keep them from burning the house down? Cook with them. I found this recipe in the back of the March issue of Family Fun magazine and knew that it could buy me at least a half an hour. I did get a half an hour out of it, and we all had a very good time making these. No fighting, no screaming, no meltdowns. All fun.

Ingredients //

How to mix the colors

To make purple: 9 red and 6 blue drops
To make blue: 12 drops
To make green: 12 drops
To make yellow: 12 drops
To make orange: 12 yellow and 4 red drops
To make red: 18 drops

edited 6/12 – I have made these many, many times, and gel food coloring gives a richer, brighter color. Both methods are the same, but the color will be more intense with gel.

Instructions //

Step 1:

Start with a box of white cake mix. Make it according to the directions on the box. Separate it into 6 bowls. Get out some plain old food coloring and get to work. Make the kids count it out for you.

Step 2:

Put the kids to work and mix until all one color.

Step 3:

Starting with purple, drop a heaping tablespoon of batter into a paper lined muffin tin. Smooth it out a bit before you add the next color. Repeat until you get to through all of the colors. Spread the red evenly over the top so that it looks like the cupcake is only red (there will be a nice surprise when they take a bite). Bake and let cool.

Step 4:

Frost with your frosting of choice. I had a can of Rainbow Chip laying around and I was feeling lazy. Kids don’t really care if it is real buttercream. They don’t judge.

Your little leprechauns will love making these and sharing them with their friends. Perfect for a St. Patrick’s Day party.