Guest Post: Tami of "29 and Holding"

A few weeks ago when Meghan begged me I volunteered to do a guest post, I was super excited! But, the more I thought about it, the more worried I became. I want you people to like me, and I don’t want to swear too much disappoint Meghan, so what could I possibly write? Then it occurred to me, cupcakes! Unfortunately, there are no fancy pants cupcake bakeries where I live. But, lucky for you, a few months ago I had my greatest baking achievement ever, which happened to involve cupcakes. So, get ready to:

When my oldest daughter was having her magazine fundraiser last fall, I stupidly ordered the “Family Fun” magazine. If you are a Mom (or Dad) and you don’t already get this magazine, do. not. order. it.

Maybe I should rephrase that. Don’t order it unless you are super crafty and have lots of time on your hands. I’m just sayin’.

Ok, so one day in March, I was home with my youngest daughter (Lainey) who had the croup (I purposely called it “the croup” because that makes it sound more like the plague, which is what it was) when we got the newest issue in the mail. Of course my daughter scoured every. single. page. because that’s what 4 year olds do.

On the very last page was the recipe of the month: “Rainbow Cupcakes”, which were cheerfully proclaiming “Taste a Rainbow!” I tried to close the magazine before she saw it, but I think kids can see things like cupcakes and rainbows from a mile away.

“Mama, Mama! Can we make those? Please? Please?” “Yeah honey, we’ll make them,” I said. “When? When can we make them?” Do I really need to give a date and time? Finally I came up with “How about we make them the next time it’s your turn to bring snack at preschool!” Somehow, she was satisfied with that.

Well, what do you know? The snack schedule came out the very next day she was at school, and we had to bring snack the next Friday. Crap. Are you kidding me? If you think she forgot, you’re wrong. 4 year olds don’t forget, especially when it comes to cupcakes.

The day before we had to bring the cupcakes, I actually had the day off. Lainey wasn’t home though, so being the great mommy that I am, I waited until she got home to make them. Huge mistake, as by the time we started it was 8 pm.

She was able to help me mix up the cake mix, and mix the food coloring in, but that was the extent of what a child could do. To say this recipe was not “kid friendly” is an understatement.

In theory, the steps were quite simple. Make cake mix per package directions: check. Divide cake batter evenly into six separate bowls: check. Add food coloring as directed: check. Evenly distribute the batter among the cups, gently spreading out each color to cover the previous color…WTF?

That’s where it got ugly people. You have no idea how time consuming this was. It took me a minimum of an hour and a half to complete the last step. After I had been at it for an hour, my husband came down and said “Do you really have to spread each color out?” Oh. No. He. Didn’t.

I said (and I quote) “If you don’t shut your mouth and walk away right now you’re going to be struck dead by a Leprechaun and all the gold at the end of the rainbow will be mine.”

It was nothing short of a miracle, but he lived, and I finished the cupcakes. And they were amazing. I even frosted them with Rainbow Chip frosting. Don’t act like you’re not impressed.

The next day at preschool I told my daughter’s teacher they were my “greatest achievement ever.” Are you ready?

And here’s the center, just to prove that you truly are tasting a rainbow:

Just in case anyone is crazy enough to make these, you can find the recipe here. But, don’t say I didn’t warn you!