Rainbow Cupcakes

I have seen these rainbow cupcakes all over the blog world and finally tried them. They were so much easier than I thought they would be and most importantly, were the most delicious creation I have ever made from a cake mix. I used the recipe over at The Girl Who Ate Everything because she is my favorite food blogger even if we are strangers. The secret ingredient to these is sour cream. I've seen sour cream in cakes before but I was unaware of the power of sour cream until now. Don't ever make a boxed cake without sour cream again, alright?

Printable Version

Ingredients:

1 WHITE cake mix, (I used vanilla)

2 Eggs

1 cup sour cream, I used light sour cream in my version

1/2 C milk

1/3 C vegetable oil OR my version uses 1/3 C unsweetened apple and I promise it won't compromise the taste or texture!

1. Combine all ingredients until all incorporated and then mix on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.

2. Separate the batter into five bowls, and then add the food coloring of your choice to each bowl. Mix well or else your batter will come out with uneven color swirls. I have heard the Wilton gel colors are the brightest  and bestest but I used the liquid drop kind and it was OK, not great, but OK.

3. Line about 15-17 cupcake tins with cupcake paper. To figure out how much batter goes in each cup, add water by the tablespoonful until it's filled and then use that as a guide so your colors are all even. 

4. Using a tablespoon or mini ice cream scoop, scoop batter into cupcake tin, using one color at a time. After each plop of the batter, dip your finger in water and then spread the batter out flat before adding the next color, this gives it a nice stripe.

5. Repeat with remaining colors and bake according to the boxed directions. Use the ol' toothpick trick to make sure they are cooked all the way through. If the toothpick comes out clean, they're done!

6. Let the cupcakes cool and then frost! I used a butter almond frosting which is made with:

1. 1 stick of softened butter
2. 1 teaspoon almond extract
3. 1-4 tablespoons of milk
4. 3-5 cups of powdered sugar.
5. Beat all these ingredients, adding powdered sugar a little at a time and then save the milk for the very last so it gets to the perfect consistency. These are approximate measurements and each time I make it, I use a little more or less of the milk and powdered sugar.