Camouflage Cupcakes

Today is my little brother's 30th birthday. We are now the same age, since I have no idea how he keeps getting older when I stopped aging at 30. We celebrated with a wonderful party thrown by his girlfriend. I immediately knew that I needed to make a camo cupcake for this occasion. He loves to hunt and spend his time in the outdoors. I scoured Google to find the perfect cupcake and frosting method. It is crazy how many different camo cupcake options are out there! Thanks to Pinterest, I decided to use the tutorial on Crafty Mama. This post is not a recipe, but more of a how-to. You can use the cake and frosting you'd prefer. These are simple to make. All you need is a bit of time.

To make the cupcakes, you will need: 

*your favorite white cake batter

*your favorite chocolate cake batter

*green food coloring

1. Preheat the oven according to your cake recipe. (Most likely around 350) Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners.

2. You are going to make 4 bowls of different colored batter. In one bowl, mix some of the white cake batter with green food coloring and a drop of chocolate batter until you reach your desired camo green. In another bowl, mix some white and chocolate batter to make a light brown. You will then use the remaining white batter, and chocolate batter, as is. 

3. Using a spoon, drop the various colored batters into cupcake tins. You want to spread out and layer the colors so that they bake with a camo look. (You could swirl the batter for a more tie-dyed finish). Layer the batters until the tins are 3/4 of the way full.

4. Bake according to your cake recipe. Once fully baked, allow the cupcakes to sit for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

For the frosting, you will need:
*white frosting recipe (I made a buttercream but a cream cheese frosting could work too)
*cocoa powder
*green food coloring

1. Split the icing into 3 separate bowls. One bowl will remain white. In another bowl, combine the green food coloring. In the final bowl, add cocoa powder to make the brown color.

2. Using a flat spatula, try your best to section the 3 colors into a pastry/frosting bag. There are many other online versions of using different bags, piping different levels, etc. I found this one-bag-trick to be quick and efficient. Pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes. Enjoy!