April Showers Bring April Flowers

It's been pretty rainy out here lately (but without any of the good strong storms, unfortunately). Rainy days are perfect for baking! I saw a really cool idea for rainbow cupcakes, and thought we could  use a little rainbow at the end of our rain so I decided to try them out. You just add food coloring to cake batter and layer the colors. Pretty easy as long as you don't mind using and washing a lot of bowls. It turns out I didn't have any cake mix, so I thought I would be all baker-like and make one from scratch. It didn't go over so well, but at least now I can say I've baked a cake from scratch. I had to make a meringue in the process and I spent quite a while whipping those little eggs with my electric beaters, which made me think 'how did people EVER make a meringue before electric mixers?'.  Mine was not achieving the desired consistency, and I was getting bored after a few minutes of whipping where all I had to do was hold a mixer. I can't imagine how tired my arms would be (or what good shape my arms would be in) if I had to do it by hand.

Yes, this is a cupcake.

There are lots of cherry trees here, and in the past week they all started blooming. It is really magnificently beautiful. There are whole streets lined with cherry trees. Seeing trees covered in white, but not from snow, is so gorgeous. It is such a peaceful sight. I love when the wind blows through them and makes dozens of white petals float through the air. I'm hoping that their blooms will last long enough that I can get some pictures of the pink trees too.