Rainbow Cupcakes
Craving something colorful and fun? Try these Rainbow Cupcakes, a delightful treat that balances sweetness and vibrancy. With their soft texture and creamy frosting, they’re perfect for any celebration. Make these whimsical cupcakes tonight!
Equipment
- 12 cup muffin pan
- 12 Cupcake liners
- Piping Bag
- Star Tip
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup yogurt natural or greek
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup sprinkles
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk, or half and half
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoons blue food coloring
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 23-inch rainbow candy sour strips I used Airheads brand
- 2 tablespoons sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare your 12 cup muffin pan by lining it with 12 cupcake liners. This is essential to ensure your cupcakes don’t stick.
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream together the ½ cup unsalted butter and ¾ cup granulated sugar at medium speed until the mixture is lighter in color and smooth. This should take about 3 to 5 minutes. The goal here is to incorporate air into the butter for fluffiness.
- Add the 2 large eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. It’s important that they’re at room temperature to blend well with the butter. Then, stir in 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract and ½ cup yogurt, mixing until everything is well incorporated.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt. This dry mix is critical to ensure even distribution of the leavening agents.
- Gradually pour about one-third of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing with the electric mixer until just combined. Then add the remaining dry ingredients along with ¼ cup sprinkles. Be careful not to overmix; you want a light batter.
- Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, fill each cupcake liner halfway with the batter. This prevents overflow and ensures they bake evenly.
- Place your muffin pan in the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Keep an eye on them toward the end to avoid overbaking!
- Once baked, allow the cupcakes to rest in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the buttercream frosting. In a large bowl, cream together another ½ cup unsalted butter until smooth. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar, mixing until fluffy.
- Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and ½ teaspoon salt. Mix until creamy. If needed, adjust the consistency with more cream or sugar.
- Once the frosting is ready, take about ¼ cup of the buttercream and set it aside. Add blue food coloring to the remaining frosting, mixing until you achieve your desired shade of blue.
- To decorate, start in the center of each cupcake and pipe a continuous spiral of frosting until the cupcake is covered. Then, use the white frosting you set aside to pipe clouds around the base of the rainbow.
Notes
- Don’t overfill: Filling the cupcake liners only halfway, and definitely no more than two-thirds of the way is key to making sure that cupcakes don’t overflow. They aren’t as cute if they look like mushrooms!
- Measure Correctly: When baking, it’s important to accurately measure everything to get the best results in the end. Use a scale if you can!
- Try Different Flavors: You can decorate any flavor of cupcake to create these Rainbow Cupcakes. Get creative with flavors like lemon or chocolate.
- Cool Completely: Don’t try to add buttercream to cupcakes that are still warm. It will just melt and fall right off!
- No Decorating Tips? If you’d rather, you can still make beautiful rainbow cupcakes by spreading the blue frosting with a knife or spatula and adding the clouds using a ziplock bag with the corner cut off.