Christmas Peppermint Tie Dye Cupcakes

Your favorite Tie Dye Cupcake with a holiday twist!

Ingredients:

-Your favorite vanilla cake mix (white cake works too.. but it's a little to light & airy of a cake to handle the dye well... the texture came out a little off where there was no difference when using vanilla cake mix)

-Whatever other ingredients your cake mix calls for.. in my case eggs, water, and vegetable oil 

-Red & Green Food Coloring (I prefer Wilton's brand)
-Optional Red and Green sprinkles or edible flakes
-Candy Canes
-Pillsbury Vanilla Mint frosting

Step One: 

-Make the cake batter according the the directions on the box. 

-When the batter is completely blended and smooth, separate into two bowls o

-Slowly add dye to bowls. Remember, a little bit usually goes a long way so blend completely before deciding if more dye is needed. Also keep in mind that no one wants to bite into a bubble of dye so blend completely... and then blend even more.

Step Two:

-Line your tin with cupcake liners. 

-Layer spoonfuls of the red and green batter in each liner. The smaller the spoonfuls (and the more layers) -the more of a tie dye effect you'll get. 

-Fill liners 3/4 of the way (or whatever the recipe calls for)

-DO NOT try to swirl or mix the different colored batter! This will only make it turn a muddy greyish/ brown. LAYERING ONLY!!

Here you can see the layering progression: the bottom liner only has one layer with the top having four.

All Done!

-Step Three:

-Bake for as long as the recipe on the box calls for!

-Remember you added an ingredient (the dye) so a little extra baking time may be needed! Just be careful and keep an eye on your cupcakes!


Step Four:

-Decorate!

-After your cupcakes have cooled, ice them! I dirty- iced these cupcakes with a knife and canned vanilla mint frosting (beware: it is very minty). To top off the cupcakes I used edible red and green sparkle-flakes and crushed candy canes. I found the gingerbread man cupcake wrappers at Joann Fabrics.

Aren't they the sweetest? 

The Ultimate Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

I am about to share with you the recipe for the most scrumptious, delicious, sinfully amazing pumpkin spice bundt cake of all time... and it's super easy! When I say easy I mean really REALLY easy. So get baking because I know you will love this cake as much as I do and it's perfect for halloween, thanksgiving, or general autumn yummy pumpkin cravings (which I have a lot of).

What you need

-A box of spice cake (I used good old Betty Crocker)

-1 can of cream cheese frosting (also Betty brand)

-1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

-2 Eggs

-2 cups Sugar

-1 small can (14-15oz) of Pumpkin Puree/ Pumpkin Pie filling (the brand I used was called Libby's)

Baking your cake:

Step One:

-Preheat Oven to 350 F

Step Two:

-Mix in large bowl: spice cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup veg oil, 2 cups sugar, and pumpkin puree. I used a beater on medium for about 2 minutes. Mix until well blended. 

Step Three:

-Grease your bundt pan and then pour batter into pan. 

Step Four: 

-Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You want the cake to be moist so check your cake at 25 and every 5 minutes following. 

-Let your cake cool!

Decorating your cake:

Step One: 

-Empty frosting from canister into a microwaveable bowl. 

Step Two:

-Microwave for 8-10 seconds or until frosting is liquified. Be careful- frosting will start to burn if it's microwaved too long! If 10 seconds is not enough, stir the frosting before continuing to microwave.

Step Three:

-Add optional food coloring- I split my frosting into two bowls and made two shades of orange.

Step Four:

-Using a spoon or spatula, drizzle the frosting around the cake. Warning: it will get everywhere so have your cake on a plate to catch the frosting! 

-If the frosting begins to harden or becomes difficult to drizzle just pop it back into the microwave for 4/5 seconds!

Step Five:

-Make optional cake toppers- These are just halloween stickers & ribbon on wooden sticks! 

Happy Baking!! 

Chai Frappuccino Cupcakes

For my Aunt's recent birthday I decided to make her favorite Starbucks specialty- Chai Frappuccinos- in the form of cupcakes!!

These adorable deserts can be made two ways- the 'Vanilla Chai' way or the 'Chai Spice' way. I chose Vanilla Chai for this batch for a milder, sweater taste.

Makes 24 cupcakes!

Ingredients:

-1 box French Vanilla Cake mix (for vanilla chai)

OR

-1 box Spice Cake mix (for chai spice)

-1 can heavy vanilla frosting

-powdered chai tea mix (I used oregon chai, found at local grocery store)

-Any ingredients needed for the box cake mix (in my case 3 eggs and a quarter cup of oil)

-Cupcake liners & pan

-Ground Cinnamon 

Supplies:

-green Starbucks straws (about 8 for 24 cupcakes)

-Starbucks hot/cold sleeves (atleast 24)

-Stapler & staples

-Scissors

-Ruler

Step One:

Bake you cupcakes!

Follow the instructions on the box for ingredients and amounts.

When adding dry ingredients, also add 4 tablespoons of powdered chai mix.

Make sure all ingredients are well blended (I beat batter on high for about 3 minutes).

Bake cupcakes as box instructs and let cool completely in pan (mine took around 30 mins total).

Step Two:

Mix your icing.

(This step is optional)

For an extra burst of chai flavor mix powdered chai into icing!

Approx. 1.5 tablespoons for an entire can of frosting. Blend well!

Step Three:

Make cupcake sleeves!

Cut straight lines across sleeves using ruler & scissors.

Undo the glue that holds the sleeve together. Then measure around the cupcake and staple sleeve where  it will fit around the cupcake bottom. Trim excess cardboard. Make sure the bottom of the sleeve is nice and even- the cupcake will rock if it's not! 

Place completely cooled cupcakes into sleeves.

Step Four:

Decorate!

Using a pastry bag (or a plastic baggie with the corner cut off) ice the cupcakes started on the outside brim and circling inward. This will make the icing look like whipped cream!

Top icing with ground cinnamon (a little goes a long way). 

Cut green Starbucks straws into thirds and place one straw in each cupcake.

Enjoy!