Summer Birthday Bash: Tie-Dye Cupcakes
Are you the parent of a summer baby? This recipe is for you! Tie-dye is all the summer rage, and what’s more delightful than celebrating a special birthday with a batch of colorful cupcakes? The funky pop of color is sure to plant a bright smile on any birthday kid’s face.
Even if there are no summer birthdays in the family, there is bound to be an occasion that calls for sweets. Have a blast in the kitchen making these for friends, relatives, or for yourselves as an afternoon snack!
Tie-Dye Cupcakes
Ingredients:
*yields 12 cupcakes
- 2½ cups cake flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup water
- Food coloring of your choice
How to make tie-dye cupcakes:
Step one: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step two: In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix.
Step three: In a second bowl, combine all the wet ingredients (except food coloring) and mix.
Step four: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.
Step five: Divide the batter equally into small bowls based on how many cake colors you are making.
Step six: Add food coloring to the batters until you reach your desired colors.
- Extra LP fun: To make Little Passports-themed cupcakes, make the batter blue and orange, our signature colors!
Step seven: Add batter to a cupcake tin one spoonful at a time, alternating between colors. To achieve a tie-dye effect, swirl the batter with a toothpick.
Step eight: Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step nine: Remove cupcakes from the oven and let them cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the cupcake tin.
Step ten: Top with frosting (see below for tie-dye frosting instructions) and enjoy!
Tie-Dye Icing
Ingredients:
- 1¼ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 cups confectioners sugar
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- Food coloring of your choice
- Piping bag or plastic bag
How to make tie-dye icing:
Step one: In a large bowl, whisk the butter until creamy. Continue whisking as you add the sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk until smooth.
Step two: Divide the frosting equally into small bowls based on how many frosting colors you are making.
Step three: Add food coloring to the frosting until you reach your desired colors.
- Extra LP fun: To make Little Passports-themed cupcakes, make the frosting blue and orange, our signature colors!
Step four: Take your piping bag or plastic bag, and use a spatula to smear the colored icing into the corners of the bag. Do a couple of tests to see if the colors squeeze out how you want them to.
Step five: Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!
We want to see your colorful creations! Tag us @littlepassports on Instagram.
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