End of the Rainbow Cupcakes

Top of the mornin' to ya!  Being predominately Irish, I always do something festive for St. Patrick's Day.  Usually, I just dye my drinks or food green.  However, this year I did something a little more special.  I made St. Patrick's Day cupcakes!  The cupcakes are made to look like the grassy knolls of Ireland and above each hill is a rainbow.  Everybody knows what can be found at the end of rainbow...GOLD!   When you bite down on the cupcakes, you will find gold in the center!  These cupcakes will be sure to please leprechauns, little ones and everybody else on St. Patrick's Day.

You will need:

• Chocolate cupcakes
• Vanilla frosting
• Green food coloring
• Shredded coconut 
• Cupcake corer
• Rainbow candy
• Gold candy

I used Airheads Xtreme Sweetly Sour Rainbows for the rainbows and gold Sixlets for the gold.  They looked perfect on the cupcakes, so I highly recommend using both of these candies.  Though, if you can't find gold Sixlets,  I think yellow M&Ms or Reese's Pieces would look convincing as well.

Directions:

1.  Bake chocolate cupcakes with a recipe of your choice.  I used boxed cake mix and store-bought frosting to make it easy on myself.  These cupcakes are all about the decorations, anyway.

2.   After your cupcakes are cool, core your cupcake.  Make sure to save the core of the cupcake.

3.  Pour gold candy into the center of the cupcake in the hole you just created.  Then, place the core back onto the cupcake.  This will ensure that your candy doesn't get gooey when you frost your cupcakes.

4.  Dye frosting green by adding several drops of the green food coloring and stirring until you obtain the color you want.  Spoon shredded coconut into a plastic bag and add a few drops of green food coloring.  Shake the bag until all your coconut turns green too.

5.  Frost cupcakes with green frosting and sprinkle shredded coconut on top.  Pat down gently on the coconut to ensure that it sticks.

6.  If you purchased Airheads Rainbows, cut them in half.  Then stick both ends of the candy rainbow into the frosting, creating a loop.

Have fun surprising people with your rainbow cupcakes! Happy St. Patrick's Day!