TIE DYED CUPCAKES

I love anything tie dyed, even as a kid.  Most likely if it is a form of tie dye, I will try it.  My closet may or may not have a decent amount of it.  Bakedbymelissa has tie dyed cupcakes that are little – about the size of a quarter.  But I am too lazy to make the trek to the city or fight people to find a parking spot at Roosevelt Field to get some, so I decided to create my own.

Vanilla Mini Cupcakes

Barely adapted from Natasha’s Kitchen

Servings: Makes 24 mini cupcakes

1 ¼ cups cake flour

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup buttermilk 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 2 eggs with the paddle attachment on medium speed.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed.   Add vanilla and oil and beat on medium speed until well combined, approximately one minute.  Reduce mixer speed to low-medium.  Add half of the flour mixture then mix until combined.  Then add half of the buttermilk and mix until combined.  Then add the rest of the flour combination, mix. Finally, add the rest of the buttermilk.  Make sure to scrape down sides between each addition.  Don’t worry if the batter is thin.

Divide the batter into small bowls, one for each color you want.  I would not use more than five colors.  I used red, yellow, green, blue, and purple.  Only use a little but of the food coloring as a little goes a long way.  Put a little bit of each batter into each mini cupcake tin.

Bake at 350F for approximately 9 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the mini muffin tin and then allow them  to cool on a wired rack.

As the cupcakes cool, make the buttercream.

Whipped Vanilla Buttercream

Barely Adapted from Annie’s Eats

Servings: enough to frost about 2 dozen mini cupcakes

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp heavy cream

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions

Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Whip on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and mix on medium-low speed just until incorporated.  Add in the salt and continue to beat on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes, until smooth.  Mix in the heavy cream and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated.  Increase the mixer speed and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed, about 4-5 minutes.

 Pipe or frost the cupcake however you want.  I went with two techniques using a large round piping tip.  One way, which you see on the left, is a dot.  Pipe down and place pressure on the bag, until you have the dot that you want.  On the right, use the same technique to place a blob onto the cupcake.  Smooth out the top until even using a straight edge spatula or butter knife.  Afterwards, use the straight edge to smooth out the side.   When done with frosting the cupcake add a few sprinkles, whatever you have available, on top.