BY MARIS CALLAHAN
This weekend marks Chicago’s Gay Pride Fest, a two-day long celebration of GLBT pride that leads up to the iconic Pride Parade. If you leave in Boystown and hear echoes of Lady Gaga tunes filtering through the streets, you probably won’t miss the glittery, several-hour long journey down Broadway and Halsted Streets that features 200 registered floats, decorated vehicles, performance groups, a marching band – and let’s be real for a second here, more nudity than one really wants to see on a public street in broad daylight. 
Regardless of whether or not the spectators keep their pants on, Pride is a festive day and no festivities would be complete without cupcakes.
Magnolia Bakery is only one of the many Chicago eateries to feature a pride-specific specialty or two on their menu this weekend, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to celebrate all of the colors of the rainbow.
The cupcake is available this weekend only in vanilla or chocolate and topped with buttercream frosting and an edible rainbow. Topped with brightly colored sprinkles and washed down with a cold iced coffee, I can think of few better ways to rally in support of pride weekend.
If you happen to miss out on Magnola’s version, make your own version at home.
Rainbow Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
2 and 3/4 cups cake flour
1 and 2/3 cup superfine sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces
4 large egg whites, plus 1 whole large egg
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
Food coloring gels
For the frosting:
1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
Sprinkles, if desired
Instructions:
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with the liners of your choice.
In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well-mixed. On medium speed, add the butter pieces, one at a time, until the mixture is soft and crumbly, like coarse sand.
Add the egg whites, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the whole egg, mixing well.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Add the milk mixture in one-third increments to the dry ingredients, mixing 1-2 minutes after each addition.
Divide the cake batter into several small bowls (depending on how many colors of batter you will want). Add your desired amount of food coloring gel to each bowl and mix thoroughly. (Look out for small bits of concentrated gel).
Working with one color of batter at a time, drop about 1-2 teaspoons of cake batter into each prepared cupcake liner (do not stir). Layer with remaining batter colors.
Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer) cream the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, until thoroughly mixed.
Pipe cupcake frosting onto cupcakes using a pastry bag or a sealed Ziplock bag with one corner cut off. Alternatively, you can frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or spatula and add sprinkles for decoration.
For more rainbow cupcake recipes, visit a few of our favorite Chicago foodies for new ideas:
Rainbow Cupcakes (St. Patrick’s Day version) from Macaroni Kid
Rainbow Pride Cupcakes from Sweet Treats By Tony
Rainbow Cake from Chicago Bites
How to Make Rainbow Cake from Chicago Foodies
