Rainbow Cupcakes

Only want 2 cupcakes and not 24? Check out my recipe Almond Cupcakes for Two. But if you want a real treat to feed a party (or if you're just really in the mood for some dessert), read on!

I was going to make these for my mom's birthday until she said she wanted Strawberries & Cream Pie. Since I still wanted to try the recipe, I paired them the other night with my Parmesan Baked Tilapia (since I knew it would be really low in points). 

Believe it or not, these cupcakes come in at only 67 calories (still less than 80 even with cheesecake cream frosting) and are only 2 POINTS+ on Weight Watchers.

But wait... there's more! These things are rainbow inside! And are topped with cheesecake cream frosting and fresh fruit! And they're wonderfully DELICIOUS!

Need I say more? I think I've made my point.

RAINBOW CUPCAKES

Servings: About 24 cupcakes

Nutritional Information:

WW Points Plus: Only 2+ per cupcake!

Ingredients:

• Cupcake Mixture:
• Box of Cake Mix
• Can/Bottle of Sprite Zero
• Gel Food Coloring
• Icing/Toppings:
• Cool Whip
• Sugar Free/Fat Free Cheesecake Jello
• Fresh Fruit

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl and gradually add Sprite Zero (I actually only used about 3/4 bottle), mixing throughly (yes, there will be lots of carbonation at first... this does subside). Preheat oven to 350° F.
3. When there are no more lumps, spoon mixture into 3-6 different small bowls/cups.
4. Add gel food coloring and stir (I chose red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple... you know, ROYGBIV without the indigo).
5. Place baking cups into a muffin tin and spoon small amounts of each color into each cup.
6. Bake in oven for about 20-23 minutes or until center of cupcake is fully cooked.
7. While cooking, combine 1/2 tub of cool whip (I happened to have fat free) and 1/2 box of sugar-free, fat-free cheesecake jello and stir. Add water until the mixture has a frosting-like consistency.
8. Allow the cupcakes to cool and top with icing (and whatever other toppings you would like... maybe even sprinkles to go with the rainbow theme).
9. Enjoy!

Almond Cupcakes for Two

It was my dad's birthday tonight, and I really wanted to make him a special birthday treat (cake-wise that is), but not something with a massive quantity. You see, I'm not one for putting 30 cupcakes in the house (as I know I WILL end up eating them, without a doubt), especially when my mother has given up white flour for lent and when my father still has his chocolate-chip cookies coming on the way from my Nana. We don't need all that dessert, but I did want a cupcake and for my dad to have something a little sweet for his birthday to go with his favorite dinner (of my Mom's Meatloaf).

But all those darn cake boxes at the store would yield 2 DOZEN cupcakes. Now I have friends, but I still don't know what I'd do to get rid of 24 cupcakes sitting on our kitchen counter. I had seen a recipe of cupcakes for two before, so I figured I would give it a go... but once again pull out my variation on a theme card to try and make them slightly healthier.

The result was surprisingly good, although I will sheepishly admit that I was so excited that I may have pulled them out of the oven a little too soon after only 15-20 minutes. They were slightly doughy, but if that's the only thing I would fix, I consider these a wonderful treat (I kind of liked them that way). They actually kind of came out pretty similar to my favorite almond-flavored sugar cookies from Eileen's Colossal Cookies back when I went to school at KU. Wow, were those the best. I was even able to individualize each cupcake, topping my dad's with a simple powdered sugar/water/vanilla icing with sprinkles and mine with fat-free whipped cream and strawberries. Almond strawberry shortcake? Yes, please.

ALMOND CUPCAKES FOR TWO

Servings: 2 cupcakes total

Nutritional Information:

WW Points Plus: 3+ per cupcake

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white
• 3 packets of Stevia (roughly 2 TBSP sugar)
• 2 TBSP margarine (or butter)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla 
• 1 tsp almond (I really like it)
• 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder*
• 1/4 tsp salt*
• 1 1/2 TBSP skim milk

* I may omit one of these two ingredients the next time I make this recipe if it doesn't affect the baking too much... the sodium count in the nutrition was a bit too high for me. 

Directions:

Update: These things were so good I had to make them again tonight (less than a week later)... I took out the salt entirely, used half of the baking powder, added some cream of tarter/1 tsp powdered sugar, only used 1 TBSP skim milk, and cooked them for 22 minutes. They were a much better consistency than the first time!

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Gently whisk and egg white in a small bowl, adding in sugar substitute, margarine, extracts, and salts. 
3. Gradually add flour until 1/4 c has been added.
4. Pour in about 1 1/2 TBSP of milk to help create more of a cake batter mixture (try not to eat the dough... I will attest to how hard of a task this is... I did lick the spoon, though).
5. Place two muffin/cupcake papers into a muffin tin and divide the batter into each tin.
6. Add water to the additional empty tins (to keep them from burning in the oven).
7. Bake for about 20-25 minutes (or until batter looks completely cooked).
8. Allow for them to cool and then top with your favorite icing/fruit/etc.
9. Enjoy!