The Decades: Tie Dye Cupcakes

I made tie dye cupcakes for an event at work.  I also made a ginormous mess in my kitchen, in my muffin tins, and in my attempts to diet.  I used white cake mixes, dived it into four parts, added gel dye...

...and then I used a spoon to add dollops of each into the muffin tins. 

I could have taken a toothpick and stir it around, but attempt two I just took a measuring cup, dipped them into each bowl of batter, and it naturally mixed in my cup.  If I believed in being neat, I could have even used ziplock bags, but it's not a philosophy I can legitimately try to convince anyone I've adopted.    I wasn't sure what would happen when blue and red mixed blah blah blah, but they held their true colors, even as they cooked.  Good to know....

I'm just going to make a little confession about dying cupcake batter that I haven't read anywhere else, but....I think it should be noted.  I think a lot of dye gives cupcakes a weird flavor. 

Which is sort of a problem when you've got 4 dozen cupcakes to push on people that are not small children distracted by pretty colors.  Beyond the mess I made.  I just used white icing, and made little picks using a piece of clipart I nabbed from online.