April showers bring..... Rainbow Cupcakes!

 

Wow! April is almost over, but you know what they say, April showers bring......Rainbows! Ha, I know that is not how it really goes, but I felt that with all the rain people get during the month of April, Rainbow Cupcakes were a perfect fit for this month's recipe/tutorial!

 

 

To make this special rainbow on the cupcake, I used a rainbow taffy, in the future I may make a homemade version using melted chocolate, but for know, this is the cutest, easiest way to make your cupcakes looking great! The taffy I used was Air Heads Xtremes - Sweetly Sour, found in the candy aisle of the grocery store. I got the Rainbow Berry flavor. This is just one of the many types of rainbow taffy you can find at your local grocery store, I liked this one because it had more than just the primary colors in it, which gave it more of a "rainbow" effect.

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I baked some vanilla cupcakes, but a fun idea would be to dye the batter and make it "rainbow-y" too! Or add some rainbow sprinkles to make it like a fun-fetti cupcake!

 

 

 

Then, I whipped up some vanilla frosting and dyed most of it blue to make it look like the sky! I saved a few spoonful's of the frosting aside to use for the clouds later.

No matter what angle I took the picture at, the blue of the frosting wasn't coming through, but don't worry, my blue frosting was more vibrant than it appears :0)

 

 

 

Next, I frosted the cupcakes with a frosting knife instead of a piping bag to create a flat surface, which made it easier later, when I was going to assemble the rainbows.

 

 

 

Now for the rainbows! I started by cutting the taffy in half to make it smaller and the perfect size ratio for the cupcake.

 

 

 

Then, I placed the left-over white frosting into a sandwich bag with a small tip cut off, about the width of your pinky-nail. Then I piped two "clouds" of frosting at the edges of my cupcake , this will help create the arc of rainbow and keep it in place.

 

 

 

Next, place your rainbow taffy on the insides of the clouds and maneuver your rainbow into place, creating the arc size that you like, if you want the arc taller, move the taffy edges closer, if you want the arc shorter, move the taffy edges farther apart. You'll get the hang of it :0) 

 

Then, add dollops of frosting on the sides of the cloud to hide where the taffy goes into the frosting, if you give the frosting bag a tight press and push down into the cupcake gently before you release, it will give it a pointy top like in the picture.

Yay! You have completed the Rainbow Cupcake!

 

 

Fun News!

More Sprinkles for Me is now on Pinterest! You can follow us and send us pictures of your desserts or recipes you would like us to try in the future!

 

Click Here to view our Pinterest Page and follow it!

We are going to create a "Fan's Creations" page on our blog in the next month or two, showing off pictures of your versions and creations of the recipes from our blog. If you would like to appear on our page, just send us a pin of the picture of your version of one of our recipes, such as the Rainbow Cupcake, Frozen Cupcake, Granola Balls, etc!

 

                      1. Follow our page, the link is above, and on the side of our blog page.

                      2. Upload your picture to Pinterest

                      3. Put the title of the dessert in the description of the pin

                      4. Post it

                      5. Send the pin to us, and see it appear on our blog!! 

 

 

 Have fun in the kitchen, and send us a picture of how it came out!



Easy Irish Soda Bread

 

 

I know this is a little late, but I wanted to wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day! Also, I have a super easy recipe for Easy Irish Soda Bread that I thought I would share with all of you, which will be a perfect addition to your meal of leftover Corn beef and Cabbage!

 

 

The Recipe...

 

Ingredients:

 

For the Dough:

• 4 cups of All-purpose flour
• 4 Tbsp. of Granulated Sugar
• 1 tsp. of Baking Soda
• 1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp. of Salt
• 1/2 cup of Softened Butter (stick)
• 1 cup of Buttermilk
• 1 egg

For the Wash {to brush on top of the bread}:

• 2 Tbsp. of Buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp. of Melted Butter

 

 

Directions:

 

Step 1: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder.

 

 

 

Step 2: Add in Butter, and mix until clumpy

 

 



 

Step 3: Stir in the buttermilk and the egg, and mix until combined.

 

 

Step 4: Place dough onto a lightly floured surface, slightly knead, and then form dough into a round. Place the dough onto a greased baking sheet (I used parchment paper). Then cut an "+" on the top of the loaf.

 

 

Step 5: Combine Buttermilk and melted butter into a bowl, stir until mixed.

 

Step 6: Then brush over top of the loaf and bake it in a 375* oven for 50-55 minutes, or until golden brown. You may continue to brush more of the butter mixture onto the loaf as it bakes.

 

Step 7: Let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting and ENJOY!!

Irish Soda Bread:

Ingredients:

 

For the Dough:

• 4 cups of All-purpose flour
• 4 Tbsp. of Granulated Sugar
• 1 tsp. of Baking Soda
• 1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp. of Salt
• 1/2 cup of Softened Butter (stick)
• 1 cup of Buttermilk
• 1 egg

For the Wash {to brush on top of the bread}:

• 2 Tbsp. of Buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp. of Melted Butter

 

Directions:

 

Step 1: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder.

 

Step 2: Add in Butter, and mix until clumpy.

 

Step 3: Stir in the buttermilk and the egg, and mix until combined.

 

Step 4: Place dough onto a lightly floured surface, slightly knead, and then form dough into a round. Place the dough onto a greased baking sheet (I used parchment paper). Then cut an "+" on the top of the loaf.

 

Step 5: Combine Buttermilk and melted butter into a bowl, stir until mixed.

 

Step 6: Then brush over top of the loaf and bake it in a 375* oven for 50-55 minutes, or until golden brown. You may continue to brush more of the butter mixture onto the loaf as it bakes.

 

Step 7: Let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting and ENJOY!!

Disney's Frozen Cupcake Idea....

Here is a creation that I made from the inspiration of Disney's Frozen. The cupcakes are white vanilla with a snowy blue frosting and topped with a white chocolate snowflake.

 

Here is a close up of the cupcakes....

 

 

How to make the White Chocolate Snowflakes...

 

1. Create a template of the size and design of the snowflake you want to create.
2.  Place the template paper underneath a piece of wax or parchment paper, I taped the template and wax paper to a cookie sheet so it was easier to transport to the freezer after I piped them .
3. Melt white chocolate chips in a double broiler, or in the microwave until completely melted.
4. Place the melted white chocolate into a sandwich bag with a tip cut off, or use a thin Wilton piping tip to pipe the melted white chocolate on top of the wax paper. Careful, the white chocolate will be hot, so you may want to let it cool for a little bit before you pipe it so you don't burn your hands :0)
5. I sprinkled granulated sugar onto the top of the still wet, piped snowflakes to give them a frosty look.
6. Let set and cool, or place them in the fridge/freezer to harden before topping them onto your cupcakes.

***** Tip: Leave the snowflakes in the freezer until the last possible minute before you place them onto your finished cupcakes because they soften very quickly, this helps lessen the chance of your snowflakes cracking or snapping while you are assembling your cupcakes.

 

The White Chocolate Snowflake Template that I created...

 

You can click on this picture and print it out, or come up with your own!

 

 

 

Have fun Baking!

Dutch Apple Crisp

The Recipe....

Ingredients:

• 5-8 Apples, depending on size of apples or size of pan
• 1 box of Vanilla Cake Mix
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of Cinnamon, more or less depending on your taste
• About a stick of Butter

Directions:

Step 1: Core the apples, then slice into thin strips to look like a doughnut, a little thinner than a 1/4 inch.

Step 2: Then cut the apples into quarters, and place them into an oven safe pan.

Step 3: Add the cinnamon right into the pan, and stir the apples around until they are lightly covered.

 

Step 4: Place the entire cake mix right onto the top of the apples, creating a yummy topping.

Step 5: Slice butter into thin strips, covering the top completely, this allows the topping not to burn, and get nice and golden.

Step 6: Place into a 350* oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the apples are nice and soft when you insert a knife.

 

Place over some vanilla ice cream, and enjoy the delicious and simple apple delight!

 

Dutch Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 5-8 Apples, depending on size of apples or size of pan
• 1 box of Vanilla Cake Mix
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of Cinnamon, more or less depending on your taste
• About 1 stick of Butter

Directions:

Step 1: Core the apples, then slice into thin strips to look like a donut, a little thinner than a 1/4 inch.
 Step 2: Then cut the apples into quarters, and place them into an oven safe pan.

Step 3: Add the cinnamon right into the pan, and stir the apples around until they are lightly covered.

Step 4: Place the entire cake mix right onto the top of the apples, creating a yummy topping.

Step 5: Slice butter into thin strips, covering the top completely, this allows the topping not to burn, and get nice and golden.

Step 6: Place into a 350* oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the apples are nice and soft when you insert a knife to the center.

*Place over some vanilla ice cream, and enjoy the delicious and simple apple delight!!