Earth Cupcakes

For most holidays, you celebrate with food— Valentine’s Day chocolates, Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas cookies, and so on. But what about Earth Day? What in the world should we serve to celebrate taking care of this beautiful planet where we all live? It’d have to be something lovely, precious, and full of love— so how about a cupcake?! These adorable treats are easy to make – you can use a boxed mix OR your favorite recipe! – and absolutely look like our green-and-blue globe. What’s more, they’re filled with love in the tastiest, most surprising way. Watch to see what we mean, and how you can make them, too!

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Earth Day Cupcakes


Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 box white cake mix (or your favorite white cake recipe)
  • 1 can cream cheese frosting (or your favorite recipe, prepared)
  • Green, blue and red gel food coloring
  • Small heart-shaped cookie cutter
  • 24 paper cupcake liners
  • 2 12-cup muffin tins or 4 6-cup muffin tins

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, if using dark-colored muffin tins. Iff the pans are light-colored, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions, or according to your recipe.
  3. Divide the cake batter between two bowls. Add blue food coloring to one of the bowls of cake batter and green food coloring to the other. Stir each until the color is thoroughly mixed-in.
  4. Alternating between the blue and green batters to create a swirled pattern resembling a globe, spoon the cake mixture into the muffin tins until each cup is ⅔ full.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven for 17 to 20 minutes, until the cupcakes are cooked through. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
  6. Scoop the cream cheese frosting into a medium bowl. Add a drop or two of red food coloring, and stir until the color is completely incorporated. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a round ½-inch tip.
  7. Use a paring knife to slice off the top of each cupcake. Set the tops aside.
  8. Press the heart-shaped cutter into the middle of a remaining cupcake bottom. Use a paring knife or small spoon to scoop out the dough inside the cutter, leaving a heart-shaped hole behind. Remove the cookie cutter and repeat with the other cupcake bottoms.
  9. Pipe the red frosting into the heart-shaped holes in each cupcake. Place the cupcake tops back on top and enjoy!

How cute and fun are these cupcakes? Absolutely perfect for Earth Day, and totally adaptable for other holidays, too! Do you think you’ll give them a try? For what other holidays would you adapt this technique?