It's the Luck O' the Irish!

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day we have a couple of cupcakes that will tempt even the most mischievous little leprechaun. One is a little more basic and easier to do. Perfect for those last minute treats. The other...well, you'll need at least two days and maybe a helper or two. The end result, though, is worth all the work.
First up is a basic chocolate cupcake with white buttercream. (Yields: 2 dozen)

Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix (and any eggs/water/oil called for on the box)

White Buttercream
2/3 C room temperature butter
1 C shortening (I use Crisco)
4 C powdered sugar
2 t vanilla
1/4-1/2 C milk

Leprechaun cupcakes!

Mix and bake the cupcakes according to box instructions. I like to go at 350 for about 18 minutes. While the cupcakes are cooling, blend together the butter and shortening. Slowly and carefully add the powdered sugar. Once the powdered sugar is incorporated add the vanilla, and slowly add the milk until you reach a fluffy, spreadable consistency. At this point, if you want to have a colored frosting this is when you add the food coloring. Try to stay away from the liquid food colorings and try for the gel or powder colors. Walmart has them in the cake decorating section (Wilton brand), and I get mine at the Ben Franklin. For these cupcakes I used my airbrush, so I left the frosting white.
Using a 16 weight pastry bag and a large star tip, I swirled the frosting into a little peak. I then air brushed the frosting with the green, and added some green sprinkles. YUM!

Grab the gold before the leprechaun can!

Now for the more difficult cupcakes. I would classify these as being about an intermediate level, especially if you have a helper. What makes these cupcakes so special is the cake itself. When you bite into it you'll see a rainbow! It looks like it's super difficult to do, but in reality, it's just a couple extra steps.
For one batch of these End of the Rainbow cupcakes, you will need:


Cake
1 box white cake mix (any eggs/oil/water called for on the box)
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple gel/powder food coloring

Decorations
Xtremes Airheads sour berry candies (12 to a package, I found mine at the Dollar Tree and Walgreens)

*(You will want to let the Airheads dry out a little bit in order to hold the rainbow shape, so take them out of the package and cut them the day before you assemble the cupcakes)*
Chocolate coins

Frosting
1 batch white buttercream

Mix together the cake as called for on the box. Once it is all mixed together, separate the cake evenly into 6 different bowls (about 3/4 C per bowl) Using a toothpick for the gel coloring, put a dab in the bowl and stir in.

Add food coloring until you reach your desired shade. I went for super bright!

In order to evenly add each color to the cupcake tins, I opted to put each color in a plastic bag to make it easier on myself.

Put about 1-1 1/2 teaspoons of each color in the bottom of the cupcake paper. If you want the cupcake rainbow to be right side up, start backwards with the colors, so purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, then red on top. I shook mine around a little between each color in order to spread it out a bit.  Once all of the colors have been added, bake the cupcakes at 350 for about 18 minutes. Don't those look so neat?!

And the inside rainbow...

On the second day (or after your rainbows have sat out for about a day):
To frost, put aside about 1/4 of the white frosting for the white clouds. Tint the rest sky blue (or leave it all white and air brush the tops blue as I did). Spread a thin layer of the sky frosting on the tops of the cupcakes. Using a medium round tip or a plastic baggie with the end snipped off, pipe a pillow of clouds on two sides of the cupcake.
Place each end of the rainbow into a pile of clouds. Mine weren't quite dry enough, so I propped them up with a toothpick and stuck them in the freezer for an hour. Worked like a charm.
Spread a little frosting 'glue' on the back of a gold coin and lean the frosted side against one of the clouds. Voila! A perfect treat for your little leprechaun.

As always, find us on Facebook at Little Bear's Cupcakery