Candy Corn Cupcake (also egg and dairy free)

Okay, so we have a Fall Birthday Bash/Halloween party with our playgroup. I had to come up with some dessert that was egg free and kid friendly, but also perfect for a fall party. This seemed perfect. The cupcakes you can make with any old yellow box cake mix, but you can follow below to see how I made them egg and dairy free. I think they turned out really well. They seemed to rise well. The only thing was that they were quite crumbly, but I'm pretty sure that is the case with all egg free cakes.  I also didn't have a really ripe banana on hand, but thought that would help hold it together a little better.  I ended up making these with about 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/2 a banana, but that was a little too much moisture.  I've adjusted the recipe accordingly

Ingredients

1 (18 ounce) box yellow cake mix (look carefully at allergen list)

1 1/3 c. water

1/3 c. canola oil

1 banana, ripe and mashed, or 1/2 c. applesauce

1 t. baking powder

1 T. vinegar

orange food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Line muffin baking pan with cupcake liners.
3. Using an electric mixer on low speed, blend the ingredients together (except food coloring) until moistened (approximately 30 seconds) in a large bowl.
4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and blend on medium speed for another minute.
5. To make the candy corn color, pour half or slightly less of the mixture into a bowl and add a color of drops of orange food coloring.  Be careful not to overfill the cups.
6. In each cupcake liner, pour a little yellow cake mix and then top with a little orange cake mix.  You'll want the tins to be about 2/3 full.
7. Bake according to the directions on the box (this batter can, of course, be used for making cakes of different sizes, not just cupcakes).
8. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.
9. I frosted the cakes with a simple butter cream frosting, but you can easily buy egg free dairy free frosting at the store (just make sure to look at the allergen listing)