Sunday, April 24, 2011

Rainbow Cookie Inspired Cupcakes

Ever since I began experimenting with cupcakes, I’ve been wanting to make these. Now, some of you already know about my love of Rainbow Cookies. Seriously, I could eat an entire package of them in one sitting. It’s kind of disgusting.

For those of you who don’t know, Rainbow Cookies originated in Italian communities in the continental U.S. during the 1900’s in homage to their heritage. Their colors represent the Flag of Italy in a very neon, funky kind of way. -- Who knew you’d get a little history lesson here? Are there anymore questions? There are? Well tough, google it; I want to get on with this recipe.

Now, I’ll admit, I was a little nervous to try them in cupcake form, mainly because baking frightens me though. But luckily, I’ve been working through my issues with a little help from Liz and a lot of caffeine. Don’t let these cupcakes intimidate you. If I can make them, you can. I promise. Alright, enough of this talky talky….on with the noms.



The music: I had my iTunes library on shuffle so I was listening to all sorts of faboosh music.
The drink: OMG…ready for this shocker? I was drinking…COFFEE! I should really broaden my choice of beverages here.

Your building blocks for the sweetness:
½ c. softened butter
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs
3 t. almond extract
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
½ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
2/3 c. milk
½ can of apricot filling
½ c. raspberry spread or jam
Neon food coloring: pink, green, and yellow

(Please forgive the multiple pictures, I kept forgetting to put things in lol)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set up your muffin/cupcake tin with liners.
Mix together the dry ingredients using a whisk or fork to sift them all together. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time, making sure they’re mixed in before adding the other. Add the almond flavoring and stir.

Alternating between the dry mixture and the milk, add to the butter mixture until all pretty and creamy and smooth. Basically until you want to stick your face in it and kiss it into submission.

Now divide the batter into three bowls and add the food coloring. These need to be BRIGHT. Like, shut the curtains and put on some sunglasses bright.

Ok, here we go with the time consuming part. Spoon some of the pink batter into the bottom of the cupcake wrappers. You could do the green first, I could never really find a clear answer on which one should go first, so I did a little of both…just as long as the yellow is in the middle.
Spoon a little apricot filling onto the first layer, spreading it out a little. (Ignore the crappy lighting here)

Now add the yellow layer and spoon the raspberry spread on top of that. Finish with the green/pink batter.

Bake for 18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before adding the topping.

Usually Rainbow Cookies are covered on all sides with chocolate and then topped with chocolate sprinkles. While as tempting as it was to roll the cupcakes around in chocolate, I held back and decided that a frigging delicious chocolate ganache would be perfect.

Ingredients for a naughty naughty chocolate ganache, I borrowed from Ina Garten. But I promise not to say “good” before every ingredient like she does. You can use the crappy stuff…I won’t tell.

½ c. heavy cream
8 oz. dark chocolate chips (you could use semisweet if you prefer)
1t. instant espresso grounds

Why espresso grounds do you ask? No, it’s not for the caffeine, even though that’s an added bonus to a caffeine addict such as myself. It’s because the coffee helps bring out the full flavor of the chocolate. Look at that! History and random chocolate knowledge in one blog post! I better pace myself, don’t wanna peak too early.

Cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Dip the top of each cupcake into the ganache and top with chocolate sprinkles.

Now “ooo” and “ahhh” over these because that are freaking fantastic! A little messy but it’s so worth it. I hope you love these as much as I do!

Love, Sarah




3 comments:

  1. Sarah, I love you to pieces but you're killing me here. I come in to look and the top two recipes are cupcakes. They look delish and I am so jealous you both got to enjoy them LOL

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  2. These look fantastic, about how many cupcakes should the batter yield?

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