I'm back!

I haven't been writing but I've been baking!

 After a good six months  Ms Cupcake returns by popular demand! This means there is six months of baking and decorating to discuss.I'll start with rainbows! I've never been one to shy away from colour...even the time when perhaps I ought to have.

  I've observed that as a general rule people tend to back away slowly from foods with a brightened hue for fear that the excessive amounts of food colorings are going to make them ill (I suggest that perhaps they ought to be more concerned by the sugar content). So you can imagine my delight when I discovered a way to have your bright red cake and eat it too!

 before baking, bright but not intense

The answer is acid. A little acidity added to the colouring seems to stabilise the colour while it bakes and intensify the hue, so add some yogurt or vinegar to your batter (not too much unless you want the tanginess which I like) and watch your colours pop! You can also bask in your smugness as you assure your baking fans that a whole bottle of dye was not in fact required to achieve that peacock blue!

I can demonstrate my new discovery with a birthday cake I recently made. Without telling those eagerly awaiting it to be served of the rainbow that hid inside, I cut the cake and fanned it open. I then sat back to bask in the delighted gasps and awe. Once again proving that we are all 5 year-olds at heart.

Who doesn't love a kitsch little cake topper?

Voila! Rainbow!

Rainbow for one