With one son and another on the way, my house is dominated by trucks, cars and blocks. When the opportunity arose to celebrate my friend’s little girl’s first birthday over morning tea, making something pink was a must!
This is pinkalicous! Such cute pink rainbow layers.
Whilst these pink rainbow cupcakes look like a lot of work, they are actually really easy. When creating cakes with a detailed decoration I like to use my tried and trusted method of using a packet cake whilst making some adjustments to make it taste home made. Learn how to by clicking here … How to Make A Packet Cake Taste Homemade
To make approximately 16 pink rainbow cupcakes you will need one Vanilla packet cake mix. You can choose any brand you like; this time I used White Wings.
Make up the cake mix and then divide evenly into four separate bowls. I used a 1/2 cup to measure out the mix by adding 1/2 cup to each bowl until the mix was divided.
To colour you can use liquid food colouring however gel or pastes will give you more vivid and defined colours. For the pink rainbow cupcakes I used Wilton Gel Icing Colours in Rose Pink for the hot pink layer and for the remaining layers used smaller amounts in each in Pink.
Add your chosen colour to each bowl separately and keep adding until you are happy with the colour.
Grease a 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 inch) square cake tin. The cake mix is small so you will need to spread evenly across the tin. Bake each layer individually for 12 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
Allow ten minutes to cool in the cake tin as each layer is fragile and will easily crack if removed too soon.
Once cooled I stacked up the layers to get a sense of how the colours would look once put together. It doesn’t look that pretty yet, but it will!
Time to make the frosting filling!
To make the centre filling of the pink rainbow cupcakes I made my favourite vanilla butter cream and added 1/2 cup of white chocolate plus White Icing Colour to make the white layers stand out.
It’s all about lots of icing in between the layers. So make it thick in between each level of the cake so you will be able to easily see the definition between each layer.
See that thick layer of icing oozing out… it makes you just want to lick it! Once layered set in the fridge for at least two hours, although overnight is better if you have the time.
It is time to cut the cake into the cupcake size. To get the best definition between the layers when cutting, set the cake out of the fridge for at least one hour prior to cutting. Then cut evenly into square/rectangle shapes. Look at those pretty pink layers! It is pinkalicous!
Time to decorate!
Start by making another batch of vanilla buttercream icing. Then spread a thin amount on top of each pink rainbow mini cake – this will help to cover any gaps when you pipe the icing.
As usual I was indecisive and couldn’t decide which decoration I liked better. So I piped the icing in two different styles using a star tip and topped with pink and white pearl beads and pink pearl sugar. I found this cute pink sprinkles pack at my local supermarket from The Creative Kitchen which included the beads and sugars so didn’t have to buy multiple packs for the decoration.
So many different ways to serve to show of the pretty pink layers!
Happy Pink Baking!
- 250 grams (9 ounces) Butter
- 450 grams (3 cups) pure icing sugar
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) milk
- ½ cup white chocolate buttons
- 10 drops of Wilton White Icing colour (optional)
- Remember when making these cupcakes you will need to double the quantities of the above ingredients as will be making two separate batches of icing. One for the layers and one for the decoration topping.
- Butter needs to be at room temperature so remove from fridge at least one hour prior to use
- Cut butter into small cubes and place into mixing bowl
- Use electric beater on high and beat butter for 3 minutes or until fluffy
- Gradually add icing sugar a cup at a time with a small amount of the milk until all combined
- If icing is fairly thick add small amounts of milk until happy with consistency
- Add cooled melted chocolate and mix until well combined
- Add white colouring if desired and mix until well combined
