What Lies Beneath that Foil Wrapper and Wholesome Looking White Frosting?

It looks just like a mild mannered cupcake. White frosting, rainbow sprinkles. Nothing too crazy. Boy does it have you fooled! This is the Clark Kent of cupcakes! When you take off that wrapper- BAM! Psychedelic colorful swirls!

How fun is that?? For my friend Peter's birthday I decided to make some awesomely colorful tie-dyed cupcakes using an inspiration I saw on Tastespotting. I figured I'd also kill two birds with one stone and make another of Martha's Cupcakes. I went with basic yellow. Who can go wrong with yellow cake, especially when you're gonna color it all up! Here's the cake recipe:

Tie Dyed Psychadelic Yellow Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

Sprinkles, for decorating

FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the cupcake tin. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla; set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix.

Separate batter into smaller bowls, one for each color you have. Add food coloring to each bowl.

Spoon about a tablespoon or so of each color into each liner so that each color is represented and cups are about 3/4 full.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in tin, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting.

Prepare frosting: in a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat unsalted butter, confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Mix in up to 1/2 cup more sugar or a few more teaspoons of milk as necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency. Makes enough for 12 cupcakes.

Aren't they great! I love how this one has a wave like pattern. See that one little crater in the middle? It happened in every cupcake! Isn't that weird? Anyways...Here's Peter enjoying a cupcake!

Yum! These cupcakes turned out great! A bit dense, probably the mixing in of the colors and stuff deflated the air bubbles a bit, but definitely tasty. The colors were amazing. I'd make them again just for the colors! I can't wait to experiment with different flavors in the different colors. Lemon for yellow, lime for green, strawberry for red. Could be a fruit salad in a cupcake!