Birthday Cupcakes

I am really excited about this post today.  I've been wanting to talk about it for awhile, but I was feeling superstitious and didn't want to jinx it.  "It" finally happened - successfully! - so now I want to tell you guys all about it.

Remember how I made rainbow birthday cake for a coworker a few months ago?  Well, my coworker, Stephanie, brought the rest of the cake home with her for kids.  Her oldest daughter, Samantha, LOVED it (okay, the other two kids loved it also, but they don't have anything to do with this story) and asked me to make rainbow cake for her birthday.  And then I found out that they were expecting ~100 people, so I decided that rainbow sheet cake(s) was/were out of the question and opted for rainbow cupcakes instead.  Of course, I had to make a test batch to see if they would satisfy my customer.

They were a success, but Sam's only real request was that they be actual rainbow colors and NO PINK!  I also wanted to do something different with the frosting.  I liked the chocolate/vanilla (dyed teal) swirl (reminded me of soft serve ice cream), but it started to look a little mucky towards the end.

After brainstorming with Joe, we decided I would take it up a notch.

(Yes, there is one missing!)

Rainbow cupcakes with solid colored frosting, set up to look like a rainbow.

Yeah.

Wanna see what they looked like on the inside?

Samantha asked for bright, rainbow colors, and I delivered.  I only stayed at the party for an hour or so, but the cupcakes were definitely a hit.  A bunch of Sam's friends sought me out to tell me how delicious they were, and I think I saw every small kid with at least one while I was there.  The coup de grace, though, was when one of Stephanie's friends told me that this was the first entire cupcake her 6 year old daughter had ever eaten.  She was telling me that her daughter will usually only eat a couple of bites before abandoning it, but this one she ate the whole entire thing in one sitting.  I realize that cupcakes are not actually that large, but holy crap!  I didn't even know what to say or how to react.  Inside, I was (am) doing backflips.

Overall, this was a ton of work and time, but totally worth it.  The cupcakes came out GREAT and it was a really awesome thing.  Hopefully, it's also a step in the right direction.

Happy birthday, Samantha!