Rainbow Cupcakes

So in my post about Boogey's RAINBOW party HERE, I gave you a glimpse of the rainbow cupcakes that I made. Aren't they fun?

Colorful Rainbow Cupcakes

They were a big hit with the guests and defintiely came out better than this cupcake "fail" HERE.

Candy rainbows on cupcakes

Now, I won't claim that these were my original idea - you can do a google or pinterest search for "rainbow cupcakes" and come up with a kajillion blog posts about them. But I will share my process with you and if you get inspired or learn a little something... great! :)

First I mixed up 2 boxes of yellow cake (maybe one of these days I'll try making cake from scratch, but for now, I'm a "from a box" fan!). Then I divided the batter into 6 plastic bags. [Tip: place your bag in a plastic cup to help keep it open and make it easier to fill].

Use a cup to keep your plastic bag open while you fill it!

Batter divided evenly and ready to be colored

Next I put a little gel color into each bag and kneaded the batter until it was well-mixed.

Batter colored like the rainbow!

Next, I cut a small corner off the edge of each bag to make it easier to pipe it into the cupcake tins.

Cut a corner off the bags makes piping the batter easier

Then I piped a layer of each color into the tins trying to make sure the individually-colored layers were the same thickness.

Pipe the batter in equal layers of each color

Bake according to the package directions then remove from oven and cool.

Rainbow cupcakes waiting for frosting

These worked out much better than my semi-fail HERE and I was really pleased with the end result of the rainbow effect. So pretty!

Rainbow Cupcakes

Next I took out my tub 'o' frosting (I used buttercream) and got ready to make my rainbow-adorned sky. {sorry no pictures of the process, but it isn't too difficult to figure out}. First, I reserved a small amount of the white frosting in a plastic bag to use later for my "clouds". Then I colored the remaining amount blue to simulate the sky and spread it on top of each cupcake. Next I applied the rainbows! For these, I bought a package of Airheads Extremes in "rainbow berry" flavor - they're sour belts and I found them at the candy store. I cut the long belts into smaller pieces (about 3" or so), formed them into an arc and stuck the ends into the frosting to look like a rainbow.

{empty} wrapper of candy used to make rainbows

Then I piped a small amount of the reserved, no-colored frosting at the base of each end of the rainbow to (1) prevent the candy from sliding in the frosting sky and (2) simulate the look of clouds. It worked great and looked fabulous! Lastly, I added cupcake toppers I made using the same freebie images (found HERE at Paper Glitter) that I had used for the goodie bags and paper cup stickers.

Side note: If you haven’t ever made your own cupcake toppers before, they’re really easy but add so much “professional” flair! As mentioned, I used some freebie images I found online. I printed them out on photo paper  I bought at the dollar store (I don’t use my good photo paper for this project as it will just be tossed at the end of the day – use the inexpensive stuff! But I do find that the photo paper gives a nicer, more ‘professional’ finish/look than cardstock (but that would work OK too if it’s all you have). Then I cut the images out using a 2” circle punch. You can certainly do the cutting by hand, though, or use other shapes – so many options! Then I stuck the printed toppers to lollipop sticks using some 1” white circle stickers. (I use THESE which I found at Office Depot, but you could also just use scotch tape).  And that is it! So easy, but such a big impact. 

And... voila! I think they came out pretty darn cute if you ask me!

Rainbow Cupcakes with candy rainbows on top

And another view...

Candy rainbows really make these Rainbow Cupcakes special!

I think it's fair to call these a success, don't you??

Rainbow cupcakes

These would be great for St. Patrick's Day too!

 What do you think??

See the rest of the RAINBOW party HERE!

This project was featured! Thank you!!

And be sure to check out these fabulous blogs!!

Linking up to these parties - check 'em out: 
{If I joined your party but didn't link back here, I apologize. This post had to be rebuilt and I couldn't remember all of the places I had linked up - I'm so sorry!}
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House of Hepworths
Polish the Stars
A Little Knick Knack
It's a Keeper
Somewhat Simple
The Frugal Girls
Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons
WHile He Was Napping
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Eat at Home Cooks