The Coolest Cupcakes In The World

I moved back to my home town about 4 years ago despite the fact that most of my friends moved away a long time ago.

Then, last year, one of my friends moved back! She and I have known one another since we were 3 years old, and our parents still live just a few doors away from each other.

I was excited that she was going to be so close and that our kids would get to grow up with one another. Her son Ethan is the same age as our Ethan, and her daughter is one year younger than Rebecca. Little did we know that the Ethans would end up in the same class at school, and little did I know that I would be taking care of her children once a week.

I was a little shocked when she asked me. Not because I felt put out, but because I didn’t know if I was qualified. My house isn’t always tidy, I sometimes have to search through laundry baskets to find clean socks for the kids, and I thought she might still remember me for the party girl I was growing up. I guess I was surprised that someone else thought I would make a good role model for their kids.

At first, I wondered if I could do it. I would actually have to be organized and plan things to do ahead of time, I would have to make sure I had good, healthy food and I would have to be responsible for someone else’s kids... it was a little daunting to be honest, but of course I said yes. I couldn’t let down my friend, and it was a great opportunity to spend more time with her kids. (Who call me Aunty Moe, by the way - I love that)

Once the older kids were at school, it would just be me, the baby and the 2 girls (ages 4 & 5), surely I could handle that.

If the task was a little daunting for me, it was all but upsetting for Rebecca. Tuesdays and Thursdays (and every other Friday) were our days at home together. So, having someone join us was not something she took lightly.

I figured once the girls were playing and the baby was napping, I would have time to do laundry and vacuum... piece o’ cake. Then, my worst nightmare happened. The two girls seemed like they were from different planets. Rebecca was loud and boisterous, Avery was quiet and demure. Rebecca wanted to one thing, and Avery wanted to do another.

I didn’t know what to do. How could I get them to bond?

I did the only thing I knew how to do, I baked. Rebecca and I loved to bake, and thankfully Avery liked to bake too. So, we got out the measuring cups and the flour, and we had at it.

The first day, we made cookies, the next week we made cupcakes, then chocolate peanut butter pie. Baking became our Tuesday ritual, and the girls started bonding. Soon, once the baking was done, they would disappear into the basement to play together... I’d like to say that my laundry and vacuuming are done as a result, but that would be a lie.

Once I started planning our baking for each Tuesday, I started coming across some really cool recipes. The coolest thing we have made so far, are these cupcakes, which I am going to call...

THE COOLEST CUPCAKES IN THE WORLD... or Rainbow Cupcakes, if you prefer.

Grab a boxed cake, I used lemon because I thought they should taste fruity, but plain white cake would work too. Make the batter as per the directions on the box.

Then divide the batter into 6 bowls. Add food colouring to each bowl to make red, orange, yellow, green and purple.

Line a cupcake tray, and spoon a layer of purple batter to just cover the bottom, then spoon blue, green, yellow, orange and finish with red, making the whole top layer is red.

Bake using the directions on the box, top with your favourite icing and voila: The Coolest Cupcakes In The World!