Rainbow Cupcakes

Yep, that's right, rainbow cupcakes! Now, I'm the type of person that gets excited over the little bits of color in Funfetti cake, so imagine my excitement when I discovered rainbow cupcakes. My day was made. It was all I could do to hold myself back from making them the day after I found them, but with a weekend full of guests, I figured I could make them without doing too much damage to my girlish figure.

So today I went at it. I whipped out my blue, polka-dotted apron and went to work. Remember how I said I'm the queen of the three-ingredient recipes? Here's one for you: a box of cake mix, 12 oz of Diet 7Up, and food coloring. That's all it takes. :)

As for the frosting.. welp. Interesting story here.. I had found a recipe online (not the one that's listed) and figured I'd give it a go. I made it, following the directions to a T, and after it was done... it looked like a bowl of something that shouldn't be seen outside the human body. Not what I was going for at all. Luckily, my mama and my sister are much more experienced in the field of baking and frosting making. I gave my mama a call and she saved the day. She gave me a simple frosting recipe and it worked like a charm.

Rainbow Cupcakes:
yields 24 cupcakes, 2 Points+ each, without frosting. 3 Points+ each, with frosting.
Cake:
1 box of Vanilla Cake Mix
12 oz. Diet 7Up
Food coloring of your choice

Frosting:
2 cups of powdered sugar
2 tbsp of butter (softened or melted)
1/4 cup of 2% milk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix and Diet 7Up. Beat on medium speed until mixed and there are no clumps visible.

Divide the batter up based on how many colors you want in your cupcakes. (I only used four colors so I divided it evenly into four bowls). Add food coloring until you have the desired color.

Drop spoonfuls of each color into a lined cupcake pan until tins are filled 2/3 of the way. Take a toothpick (one for each cupcake so you don't mix up the colors from other cupcakes) and swirl the batter in each cupcake. Try not to mix the colors too much though or you'll start having funky, not-so-pretty colors! Bake according to the box's instructions.

For the frosting, in another medium sized mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, and milk. Using a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until you have a creamy consistency.  The frosting will be a little runny, but it will set up.  Like I said, my mama gave me this recipe over the phone and also told me I could tweak it until I get the right consistency. If you want a thicker frosting, I suggest only pouring in half of the milk at first and then adding as you go. Wait until the cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.

Today was also my first experience with a frosting bag. I eventually want to upgrade to a frosting gun, but I figured baby steps. Chris was laughing at me in Kroger trying to pick out liners and frosting tips. :) Hey! You can't help but get excited over something new and helpful, right?