Rainbow Cupcakes

I hate to admit it, but I’m a little excited for fall. As much as I love the warmth and sunshine that summer brings, I’m happy that its over. Now its time for crisp, orange leaves, the cool fall nights and the smell of pumpkin and apple in baked goods. I’m definitely an autumn girl at heart.

Another things that comes with fall is the new television schedule. Yes, I’m a TV addict. Want to hear something sad? When I bake, I like to watch DVDs of my favourite shows even though our TV doesn’t even face the kitchen. I’ve watched them so much that I guess I’m good with just listening to the episodes.

This week, the new shows I’m looking forward to is Glee, The New Girl, Modern Family, Glee, Community, The Office and Glee. Did I mention Glee? To say I’m a fan of the show is a huge understatement.

I must say, in regards to Glee, this summer hiatus has been torture. Although, if you ask Trevor, there was no hiatus for me. There was the Glee Project reality show that ran for two months to find new stars for the show and there was their summer concert. Luckily for me, their only Canadian stop was in Toronto and we got tickets. It was awesome and I got my photo with one of the Warblers.

Love the t-shirt? I won it on a Global TV contest. (We don’t get the Fox channel, so I watch it on Global channel, which airs most of the Fox shows in Canada).

So in honour of my favourite TV show that starts up again on Tuesday, I made simple rainbow cupcakes. It was the easiest, happiest treat I could think of. All the colours swirled together in one delightful, decedent dessert, it just reminded me of Glee.

The cast of characters – white cake mix and food colouring. Not pictured is the eggs, oil and water that is needed for the cake mix.

I used five colours, but you are welcome to use less. Actually, I suggest using less for the first time you make this. You’ll see why below.

Be sure to lay out enough bowls for the different colours you are using. You will be dividing the cake batter evenly and mixing the appropriate colours.

Like so!

Carefully spoon the batter into the paper cups. Don’t mix the colours, merely layer them on top of each other.

As you can see, I got a little over-excited in making sure that each cupcake contained part of each colour. Therefore, added too much batter to the cupcakes, especially the ones on the left. I was supposed to end up with 24 cupcakes, but instead I ended up with 18. Lesson learned, use less colours next time or smaller spoonfuls when dishing out batter.

Luckily, this didn’t affect the overall presentation of the cupcakes. They cooked up fluffy and beautiful, with each colour visible.

If you are going to a Glee season 3 premiere viewing party, I suggest bringing these as dessert, or else a variation of my Glee Cookies.  I made these on a whim and thought they turned out not too shabby. Also, if you search around on the internet, you can find tons of other Glee-themed cookies and food items. Tots anyone?

I won’t be hosting or attending any premiere party. Instead I’m going to plant myself on my couch with a bowl of popcorn and annoy Trevor by squealing during the musical numbers.

Right after Glee, there is also going to be a new show called The New Girl starring Zooey Deschanel. To say that I’m also excited for this show is a complete understatement. I think I’m addicted to my TV. And rainbow cupcakes. If you don’t think about all the dirty dishes it creates, this is one easy cupcake recipe.

Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cupcakes

A couple months ago, I bought a couple new vegan baking cookbooks to find more recipes for Trevor’s allergy. Since he can’t have milk products containing lactose, I’m always on the lookout for milk-free recipes. I consider it to be a fun challenge.

Although he’s not a big cupcake fan, I just had to buy this book.

Healthy Peanut Butter & Granola Bars

Between Trevor and I, we buy a lot of boxed granola bars. They are a nice quick snack when we’re busy and forget to eat and they fit nicely in my purse or his bag whenever we spend the day downtown. They come in all kind of awesome brands, sizes and flavours.

Low-Fat Vegan Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

A couple days ago, my brother flew back after a short visit at the our parents’ house. He flew in at the craziest time – during rush hour! I was stuck in stand-still traffic for over 15 minutes because there was an accident on the highway (nothing major, just a rear-ending, but we were all reduced to one lane). Once I passed that, it was smooth sailing to the airport. Luckily I love my brother and don’t mind picking him up. Another bonus was that my brother came bearing gifts from home.

Homemade raspberry and blueberry jams! My Grandma, Aunt and Uncle both have raspberry bushes in their backyards, so it must have been a good year for them. Near where they live is also considered “wild blueberry country” (not sure if that’s official, but that’s what I call it). I have lots of memories of growing up and picking wild blueberries as a kid. You can take all your large, mostly watered down store-bought blueberries, I’ll eat these flavourful little guys thank you very much!

Heat Wave

Hello fellow She Bakes Here readers. I’ve been really good at posting something at least once a week here since I started this website in January, but now due to this crazy summer weather (49 degrees with the humidex last week), I haven’t had the chance to bake anything.

We have an air conditioner in our apartment, but running it all the time would be crazy expensive, especially every time a baking idea hits me. I’ve been very good and I haven’t roasted us out of the apartment yet.

I have lots and lots in mind to bake and I even have three new and inspirational cookbooks on my way via Chapter’s online store (I discovered the remains of a giftcard in my wallet the other day), so don’t think I’ve abandoned you just yet. I may just have to take some time off from baking constantly so that our apartment can remain at a bearable temperature.

In the mean time, check out some of my favourite baking websites on the right hand side and I will be back in a few weeks when the weather is more tolerable.