From the Editor: Psychedelic Cupcakes

In addition to being fashion-obsessed, I happen to have a love for baking too and one of the items that I receive great feedback from are my tie-dye cupcakes. I adapted my version from Omnomicon.com who does a lovely job at showing pictures throughout the process. However here is my take on this popular treat with a modified recipe for ultimate deliciousness!

Items needed:

• 1 box white cake mix
• Betty Crocker Gel food coloring
• Vegetable oil
• Soy milk
• Water
• Multiple bowls
• Cupcake tin
• Cupcake liners

How To:

1. Preheat oven according to box cake mix and prepare the cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

2. Combine box cake mix with vegetable oil and water as directed on the box. I substitute eggs with soy milk because I find that the  cake turns out much more moist and generally tastier however you can certainly use eggs if you so desire. Use 1/4 cup soy milk per egg as directed on the box. (For example, if the recipe calls for 3 eggs, use 3/4 cup of soy milk.) Do not over-mix the batter at this stage as it will need to be stirred some more once the colors are added.

3. Separate batter into as many bowls as colors you are making. Generally I do about 5 colors; Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Orange. Therefore 5 bowls of batter will do. Begin to add food coloring and stir gently until the shade desired is reached. (Keep in mind you can do any color combo. Try doing Red/Green for Christmas or your school colors for a school related event!)

4. Spoon the batter in layers into the cupcake tins to just over 3/4 of the way full. Alternate adding the colors, for example add Red batter to all the cupcakes, then add a Yellow layer on top to all the cupcakes and so forth. There is no need to swirl the colors once in the pan, they will move about a little and still look delightful!

5. Pop into the oven and bake as directed. Bake time generally stays the same even with the soy milk. Pull out of the oven when pricked with a toothpick, comes out clean.

6. Let cool then decorate as desired and serve to friends, family, lovers…

*To kick these (or any) cupcakes up a notch- try adding a graham cracker crust!
Take 6 crushed graham crackers, mix with about half stick of butter and 1/2 cup of sugar. Put a thin layer at the bottom of each cupcake liner before filling with batter.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the result: