Soon we will be celebrating Easter which is a very important religious holiday on the Christian calendar and is celebrated worldwide. Some of the folklore associated with Easter includes colored eggs and the easter bunny. This may not be the Easter bunny, but here is a picture of a cute bunny rabbit that was recently in my yard.

Here in the US we have an Easter candy called Peeps. It is a marshmallow type of candy and has been around for more than 60 years. Before automation, it took 27 hours to produce one marshmallow chick by hand with a pastry tube. Now it takes only six minutes to create one Peep. Whether you love or hate the Peeps, they do seem to symbolize the arrival of Spring to many people. See just born.com for more fun facts about this colorful candy. I always buy a few of the Peeps each Easter.

A lot of us will celebrate Easter with family gatherings and good food. We nearly always have a ham dinner with a lot of side dishes and desserts. This year I’m making colorful marbled cupcakes for one of our desserts. Marbled cupcakes are typically ones that blend chocolate and white cake batters, but these cupcakes get a marbled effect from layering different colors of batter.

There are several recipes out there for this kind of cupcake. I was inspired by the one made by two sisters crafting. They used four different colors for their cupcakes. I found that it was easier to only use three different colors of batter. Check out their beautiful cupcakes and other recipes here.

I love the different colors in the cupcakes and the bright pink and blue frosting. They are a perfect dessert for Easter or any family celebration. I’m not good at cake decorating but I think the beauty of these cupcakes is in the colorful batter and frosting.

Marbled Cupcakes

Servings: 12-14
Difficulty: easy
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Marbled Cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix (15.25 ounce )
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Buttercream Frosting:

3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place a paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups and set aside.

For the Cake:

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and blend on low speed of mixer for one minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat an additional two minutes.

Divide the batter in 3 equal portions in separate bowls, and tint as desired. I used Wilton Color Rite Food Coloring and colored each bowl of batter as follows: pink, yellow, and blue.

Use a small spoon to alternate small drops of colored cake batter into the individual cupcake liner. Repeat until all cupcake liners are filled, filling each 2/3 to 3/4 full.

Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:

In a large bowl, with electric mixer at low speed, combine sugar, butter, cream and lemon. Beat at medium speed 1 to 2 minutes, until creamy. Add more milk until frosting is of a spreading or piping consistency. Tint as desired. I used pink and blue colors. Use a Wilton 2D frosting tip to frost the cupcakes or apply frosting with a knife.