While I am waiting for my cupcakes to cool, I thought I would share a great cleaning tip. My husband loves to drink tea, and somehow always manages to spill some on our white counter top. Tea stains incredibly easy, and soap and water and/or kitchen cleaners usually just don't cut it. So if you need to clean up tea stains, coffee stains, or say... red velvet cupcake dye stains (not that I know from experience), do this:

Create a paste of 3 parts baking soda and 1 part water. Gently place on top of stains. (Do not rub. as it could damage the counter top.) Here is what my counter top just looked like:



Obviously, you just need to spot treat, but if you happen to get red dust all over your counter, you need to do damage control. Let the paste sit for a minute so the water can absorb the stain into the baking soda. Wipe away paste with a clean, damp, soft cotton cloth (paper towels aren't strong enough). If you notice the stain is still there, put the paste back on the stain. (It will be less watery, but you can still put it back on the stain instead of mixing a new batch.) Once the stain has lifted, rinse counter with clean water. (Some stains such as food dyes or coffee and tea stains may not disappear right away, but will with repeated cleanings.)