When you are the baker in the family, it is not uncommon that you just might have to bake your own birthday cakes. I’m okay with that and since today I find myself turning a year older (how does that keep happening???), I thought I’d make some cupcakes that feature a few of my favorite things…
Which means chocolate and vanilla zebra striped cupcakes topped with hot pink & black sprinkles and Hello Kitty. You’d think I was turning 13, wouldn’t you? Closer to twice three times that, but we’ll just chalk it up to being young at heart and having little girls around.
I keep seeing zebra striped cakes and cupcakes and have wanted to try to make some, so this seemed like a good time to try it out. To keep it simple I used a white cake mix and a chocolate fudge cake mix. I did add a bit of black food coloring to my chocolate cake mix, just to pump up the darkness.
I think this is something that probably works out a bit better when made in cake form than in cupcake form. Check out this great post over at My Cake School on how to make a zebra striped cake. My cupcakes didn’t give me exactly the look that I was going for, but I think they pass muster. They manage to still be stripey versus just marbled. Speaking of marbled, a marbled cake mix would be an awesome way to do this (versus using two cake mixes).
I basically layered the white and chocolate cake batters…
After that I simply baked according to the directions on the box.
And in keeping it simple, I just added vanilla frosting, some sprinkles and some Hello Kitty sugar decorations (I’ve found these at grocery stores, party stores and craft stores for years, I think they are a pretty standard item – I mean it IS Hello Kitty!). I also topped a few with a pink heart.
And a look inside…
These were fun and easy and you could get pretty creative using different colors. Now it’s time for me to go enjoy a cupcake and cry about getting old! 😉 Have a great day!
Robin says
what measurements did you use for each layer?
Christi says
Robin, I just spooned them in by sight – to me that’s much more of an “art” than a “science” – whatever looks good for something like this works for me as it’s not going to change the basic structure/recipe. Well, that and it pains me to measure, I enjoy baking so much more when I just roll with it and fly by the seat of my pants. 🙂
[email protected] says
I ADORE anything animal print, so these are right up my alley! I had no idea that it was so simple to make this type of design in the cupcake….great to know!
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Stanley Graves says
These are so cute!! Many Happy Birthday! Thanks