How to Use Food Coloring for Tie-Dye Cupcakes

Tie-dye is made by mixing different colors in an uncontrolled pattern to color an object, such as a cupcake. Each cupcake made with tie-dye icing will come out with a different pattern of colors, creating a variety of appearances. However, you cannot create tie-dye cake batter by simply mixing different food coloring in a bowl. This will result in the colors combining and forming an unappealing gray batter. If you would like to make tie-dye cupcakes, you must use special equipment to ensure the colors stay separate until you mix them together in the cupcake tin. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Mix the white cake batter per the manufacturer's instructions in a large mixing bowl.

Pour equal portions of the cake batter into three small bowls.

Add five drops of red food coloring to one bowl of batter. Stir with a spoon until the batter is an even color. Wash and dry the spoon after mixing so you do not transfer the color to the next bowl.

Add five drops of blue food coloring to the second bowl of batter and stir with the spoon as before. Wash and dry the spoon before repeating with the green food coloring in the last bowl.

Lay a pastry bag flat on a table.

Spoon an even layer of red batter into the pastry bag, using 1/3 of the mixture. The layer should be along the side of the pastry bag rather than at the bottom. This layering process will allow all three colors of batter to exit the bag at the same time.

Repeat with the blue batter, layering it on top of the red batter, and then layer the green batter on top of the blue.

Lift the pastry bag up off the table, grasping it at the top with one hand and holding the tip in your other hand.

Hold the tip over a cupcake tin and squeeze the pastry bag from the top. As the batter flows into the tin, move the tip in a circular motion until it is 3/4 of the way full. Repeat this process for each cupcake tin until the pastry bag is empty.

Wash the pastry bag and repeat the layering process twice more to fill the rest of your cupcake tins.

Bake the cupcakes per the batter manufacturer's instructions.

Tips

- You can create tie-dye icing in the same manner as the batter to top the cupcakes.