Punk Cupcakes

My sister just turned 26, and I decided to make a sweet treat for her. I found some adorable cupcake papers, and they were just perfect for her! When she was in high school, she was very much into the punk thing, and wore pink plaid, had a huge (I mean huge, it was over 18" tall) mohawk in various colours. These papers were the inspiration for the cupcakes I would make for her birthday!

The colourful animal prints in hot pink and black were perfect!

Last year I made some fantastic cupcakes using a white cake recipe, and they were the best cupcakes I have ever tasted. They took me the whole day to make, between mixing my own batter and buttercream icing. This year, I didn't have the luxury of time, so I had a little help from Betty Crocker.

I used all the different papers, and filled them with the batter. This was the first time I had tried baking in my new oven, so I set the timer for the shortest time listed on the package, and kept a careful eye on them.

While the cupcakes were baking, I took that opportunity to mix my icing. I started with a premade icing (thanks again, Mrs. Crocker!). This was too soft to hold peaks, so I added confectioners sugar until the icing was the consistency I needed. Once this was done, I began to add the colour. Food colouring can be quite potent, so I started with just a few drops.

I would mix the colour in, and add one or two more drops at a time, until I reached the colour I wanted, a nice hot pink!

Meanwhile, I cupcakes were cooling on the rack near the window. Once they were cooled through, I prepared my piping bag.

I chose the spirally tip (I don't know what it is called) that makes nice rosettes. After a couple of failed attempts at making nice tall spikes, I had to settle on cute little spikes!

I had a small tube of black gel and added the little dots for interest.

I had a lovely collection of spiky punk cupcakes for us to enjoy! The handful that didn't fit into the case were placed on a plate with plastic wrap, and ultimately ended up all over the seat and floor of my car! But of the surviving cupcakes... She loved them! Her kids thought they were the best thing ever, and all her friends had a good chuckle.

Happy Baking!