Colorful Cream cheese Cupcakes

September 2nd was my son, Lincoln's, first birthday.

We had a very colorful, Sesame Street themed party for him. One of the highlights of the party were these cupcakes I made. I originally saw the idea for them on a local t.v. show and thought they looked like so much fun I had to try them. Here is the link to the video clip and blog with the recipe: http://www.mindikamoments.com/2009/09/rainbow-bright.html

Personally, I used Betty Crocker cake mixes, which worked out great. The cream cheese in the recipe makes the batter thicker, so the colors won't blend. You can find gel food coloring at just about any craft store near the baking supplies. It's also available at Walmart near the party/wedding/cake decorating supplies. Once you've made the batter, simply divide it into separate bowls and add the food coloring. Then, you can either spoon it into the cupcake wrappers, or pipe it out of sandwich sized ziplock bags. Another variation which I've tried is to make a chocolate-vanilla marble cake with the same recipe. Follow the recipe once with a white cake mix and once with a chocolate, then marble the two together. Of course this is a double recipe, so you'll end up with oodles of cupcakes... but it's also very good and moist.

For the frosting, I just followed the standard Wilton buttercream recipe and piped it onto the cupcakes. To get a multi-colored affect, I brushed the decorating bag with gel food coloring before piping it out. It's an easy trick that gives these fun little treats a nice finishing touch.

One more tip...

Cupcake toppers can get pretty expensive, especially if you're catering to a large group. So, I made my own. I found round sesame street stickers and simply stuck two of them, back to back, to the end of a toothpick... voila! Cupcake topper. :)