Green Ombre St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes
Green ombre cupcakes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! Made with white cake mix and homemade buttercream, these have 3 colorful layers!
Servings 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 - box white cake mix prepared according to package instructions (For me, this included 1 c. water, 1/4 c. vegetable oil, and 3 egg whites)
- green food coloring I used Americolor Gel Paste in Leaf Green
- 1 c. butter softened
- 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1-2 tbsp. milk or water
Instructions
For cupcakes:
- Place paper cupcake liners in each of 24 regular-sized muffin cups.
- Prepare white cake mix according to package instructions.
- Divide batter evenly among 3 bowls.
- Using the food coloring, color one bowl of batter a darker green, one bowl a lighter/medium green, and leave one bowl plain white. You could actually make the final layer an even lighter shade of green if you prefer, but I wanted a starker contrast between the cupcake and the green frosting on top, so I left it plain!
- Divide the darker green batter evenly among muffin cups, about 2 tbsp. of batter, or 1 scoop with a standard cookie scoop. Tap the pan on the counter to evenly spread and distribute the batter.
- Divide the lighter/medium green batter evenly among muffin cups, using the same method.
- Repeat with plain white batter.
- Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes, or until the edges of the cupcakes are golden brown.
- Cool in pan on wire racks for about 10 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan, and cool completely.
For buttercream:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar.
- Mix on low until well-blended.
- Add vanilla and milk, and beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, adding more milk if needed to achieve a thick and fluffy consistency.
- Add green food coloring to desired color, and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Enjoy!