Piñata Cupcakes

These Piñata Cupcakes are so much fun; colorful, with a sweet surprise inside! These are the perfect dessert to follow up an Mexican dish or to include in your Cinco de Mayo Fiesta spread.  

KID WARNING:  Kids absolutely love these, and these cupcakes can be a great incentive to good behavior, but they may be on a sugar high after eating one, so I recommend either splitting them between two kids/ people and never serve right before bedtime!

Ingredients - makes 12 cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix (will need 3 eggs, 1/4 cup *vegetable oil, 1 cup water)

Food coloring (blue, green, yellow, red, others as preferred)

M&Ms candy

Cream cheese icing, or white icing

Colored sequin candy flowers, or colored sprinkles (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare white cake batter as per box instructions.
3. Divide the white cake batter into four separate bowls evenly (or the number of different colors of food coloring you chose).
   
4. Add in food coloring to each bowl to desired hue and mix well.
5. Layer each color into cupcake paper cups in a 12-cup muffin tin.  Be careful to still only fill each cup 3/4 full with the total of layers.
6. Put them in the oven and cook as per box instructions (approximately 25-30 minutes or until center of cupcakes is cooked through and a toothpick comes out clean.)
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
8. Take a paring knife and carefully cut a circular hole through the center of a cupcake, approximately 1" in diameter. Do not go through the cupcake wrapper.  Keep the top of
   
   the cupcake hole to the side.
9. If needed, use a small spoon to scoop out any remaining cake bits so the hole is clear.
   
10. Fill the hole with M&Ms candies to almost full and replace the cupcake hole top to cover them.
11. Apply icing to the cupcake and decorate the top as preferred.  Repeat with all cupcakes.
12. Enjoy!

Tip: Refrigerate these when not serving.  Leaving at room temperature allows the moisture from the cupcakes to erode the M&Ms' candy shell so they lose their color; refrigeration helps to alleviate this, but it is recommended not to add M&Ms until ready to serve to get full effect.