One thing I enjoy making is rainbow cupcakes. It’s just fun to do and the end product looks rad. They’re usually so colorful that you don’t need to put frosting on top (which I did eventually for these plus with red and green sprinkles but I have no picture of that).  I decided to make a batch of Christmas colored cupcakes to take with me to work.  As if we weren’t getting enough sweets sent to us from different companies and what not.  But I figured one last bit of sweetness couldn’t hurt.

– 2 boxes white cake mix
- eggs (egg substitute), oil and water according to cake mix directions
- Red & Green food coloring

Frosting
- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened (Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Christmas colored sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix cake mix, eggs, oil and water to create a smooth batter. Separate the batter into 3 equal bowls. Add Red food color to one bowl and mix with a spoon.  Keep mixing until there is no white batter left in the bowl.  If you know your color wheel and what not you know that red and white obviously make pink.  Keep adding red food coloring until you get an actual red color in the batter.

In the second bowl add green food coloring to the batter and mix until there is no white left.  Leave the third bowl with the white batter.

Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.  Now, you can really do this however way you want; I personally liked layering the different batter colors alternating so i had some that were green on top, then red and so on into each cupcake liner.  Once you are done filling all the liners, using a toothpick, stick into the batter of each liner and slowly swirl them around to get a swirly, paisley effect.  Place them in the oven and bake for about 20-22 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test.

Remove from oven and allow them to cool.

For the frosting, add softened cream cheese to a bowl. Add vanilla extract and mix. Once all cupcakes are cooled frost each one. Sprinkle Christmas colored sprinkles on top.

Makes about 2 dozen

Note: (I made this some time ago thus the crappy photo ha!) Also, this recipe is non-Vegan due to the boxed cake mix which includes non-fat milk. For the Vegan recipe click here.

Strawberries and lemonade two things that signify the start of summer. What’s more perfect then to combine the balance of sweetness and tartness into cupcakes topped with fresh strawberries? Recipe below:

- 1 box lemon cake mix (Duncan Hines/Betty Crocker whatever is your fix)
- water, vegetable oil, and eggs (egg substitute) according to cake box
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (or sugar substitute i.e. Splenda — raw sugar for Vegans) (optional) – this is optional because the cake mix already has sugar however depending on how sweet the strawberries you are using are, the cake could lean more on the tart side. this is just for added sweetness
- 1/4 cup strawberries, pureed
- 18-24 slices of fresh strawberry

Frosting
- 1/2 cup cream cheese at room temperature (or 4oz of an 8oz pkge – you can also use light cream cheese here)
- 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
- 2 tbsp pureed strawberries
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs. Once all ingredients are incorporated add strawberry puree. Fold in puree and taste batter. If it’s too tart add sugar.
Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Pour batter into lined cupcake tins. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until it passes the “”toothpick test”

While cupcakes are baking, put together the frosting. In a bowl combine cream cheese, strawberry puree, rind, and sugar. Fold all ingredients together and set aside.

Once cupcakes are done, remove from oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before frosting. Frost cakes and enjoy!

Makes 18-24 cupcakes.