I’ve never been much of a cake decorator. In fact, the thought of having to decorate a cake for other people to see and eat scares me half to death. But, I love making cupcakes. They are fun, and my daughter loves to make them with me.
My mother-in-law’s birthday was last week, and my daughter and I decided we wanted to make her some cupcakes for her birthday. I wanted to find a way to dress up the cupcakes and didn’t really have time to go to the store. (Usually the cupcakes have white icing and travel in a rubbermaid container). I opened by pantry, and ta-da!! I actually spotted two ways that I could spruce up my plain Jane cupcakes!
To instantly color and flavor my white frosting in a can, I emptied the can into a glass bowl. I then picked out which Kool-Aid flavor I wanted to use (strawberry) and dumped the whole packet int the icing. I stirred until it was thoroughly mixed together, and…Voila!! Pink strawberry icing! I had actually read this idea on a cake mix or icing packet before, but had never tried it. It turned out as an amazing, quick trick!
I will add a disclaimer to this- the frosting was very strawberry. To tone it down a bit, I would maybe only use 1/2-3/4 of the packet.
#2 Martha Stewart Treat Boxes
I has totally forgotten that I had these treat boxes in my pantry. I bought them a while back to use for gifts. I am so glad that I spotted them because they were an instant dress-up option for these cupcakes! If you’ve never used one of these kits from Martha, they really are great. The kit comes with the box, matchbox type cover, tissue paper to line the inside, a ribbon, and gift sticker.
Basically, I have no more excuses for Plain Jane Rubbermaid Cupcakes!!
Thanks for the sweet comment in my blog. Btw You’ve got so much creativity and I’m admiring them all. Can you please share your creative posts at the Creative Bloggers’ Party & Hop? Hope to see you there at the party 🙂
I will have to try this! That color is amazing and I don’t think I could get that with regular food coloring… this idea is perfect!
I use sprinkles to hide my icing imperfections! everyone loves sprinkles – the more the merrier!
Thanks for checking out my blog and taking the time to comment! I’ll visit you Thursday for the linky party
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I will definitely link up at your party on Thursday.
Kelly
herecomesthesun-kelly.blogspot.com
Genius! Kool Aid brings back so many fond memories and I would never ever have thought about adding it to icing! I’m sending this link to my cupcake loving daughter. You really got me thinking here – wonder if my favorite Pink Lemonade Crystal Light drink mix would work too? Thank you so much for sharing this!!!!
wow,i never thought to use koolaide! i cant wait to try this 🙂
Those cupcakes look amazing and I bet taste as good too:):)
Those look so tasty! Great job!
Thank you for stopping by my blog! I will definitely be back for your link party!
Great idea on the Kool-Aid! I love the bright color and the cute box you put them in. Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving such nice comments. I will be back on Thursday!
Kool-Aid icing – that’s brilliant! I’m pinning it right now.
I love the idea of putting Kool-Aid in icing. I’m all about semi homemade ideas. (Love store bought frosting.) My mind is spinning with flavor and color combo’s!
I would love it if you would share this tip, and any others you have, at my August “It’s a Celebration” link party. I think my readers would love this as much as I do!
Christina
http://www.inspirationforcelebration.com
What a fabulous idea! I can’t wait to try this!
Great idea. I don’t know why I never thought to use Kool-Aid! So smart. I really like the color. I bet she loved them.
That is a great pink- koolaid ya don’t say! I’d love it of you’d share this with WorkShop Wednesday. It woud make a great addition to the party!
That is a great tip and they look lovely!
Holly
Looks amazing! My daughters will love to try make the cupcakes. Btw, I am your newest follower.
Thanks everyone for the nice comments! I hope you all enjoy trying them out!
Melanie
This post made me smile. Thanks for inspiring me and many others to even attempt this feat. Really appreciate that you linked up at the Creative Bloggers’ Party & Hop.
What a great idea! There are so many kool-aid flavors that would be perfect for cupcakes 🙂
Well, I can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said…well, maybe GENIUS!! But I do have the only stupid question….I’m assuming you used unsweetened Kool Aid? See, I knew it was a stupid question….I’m sure you did.
Didn’t you?
Yes, imlvr, use the Kool Aid packet without adding any sugar. It wasn’t a stupid question 🙂 glad you liked the idea!!
I used a JELLO version of this for my son’s birthday this past weekend. It was a huge hit! Thanks BRB!
Thanks for linking up your fun idea at my “It’s a Celebration” link party. I loved it so much I’ve featured it as one of my favorites.
You can see it here:
http://www.inspirationforcelebration.com/2011/09/its-celebration-link-party-september.html
Christina
http://www.inspirationforcelebration.com
Wow, kool aid icing…what a great idea! It would make vibrant colors and great flavors!
Hey there! Just wanted to let you know we featured you in our Favorite Find Fridays post over at Whimsically Homemade. We used one of your pictures. If that’s a problem let us know and we’ll remove it immediately. Thanks for your great inspiration!
Hi there. Food on Friday: Muffins and Cupcakes is open for entries. This looks like a neat one! I do hope you link it in. This is the link . Please check out some of the great links there are already. Cheers
I read about the kool aid this morning. I needed a blue flavored icing for a baby shower. So I went out and bought the mixed berry and betty crocker vanilla frosting to try it out. My grandkids taste tested it and really like it. My one question is this, I want to make ripples in the frosting to look like water. However, it wasn’t really stiff enough after I mixed the kool aid in. Should I use a different frosting? Any suggestions? Thank you so much!!!! Chris
Hi, It is going to be difficult to get store bought icing stiff enough to make ripples. Your best bet for something like that is to make your own icing. I usually use a recipe similar to this one: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/174347/quick-and-almost-professional-buttercream-icing/
This way, you can control the stiffness of icing. After you make the recipe by the instructions, you can play with the consistency. If it is too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar. If it’s too thick, add more milk. Just do small increments at a time.
Thank you so much!! I will try that.