Who doesn’t love funfetti cupcakes? I know I love them and they are a favorite of my family. And for PRIDE this year I wanted to make something extra fun so added a beautiful rainbow buttercream swirl. These beauties are perfect for any summer get-together. Enjoy!
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- •240 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour*
- •28 grams (4 tablespoons) cornstarch*
- •15 ml (1 tablespoon) baking powder
- •2.5 ml (½ teaspoon) kosher salt
- •296 ml (1 ¼ cups) whole milk, at room temperature
- •4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- •113 grams (1 stick/4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- •300 grams (1 ½ cups) fine sugar
- •10 ml (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- •114 grams (½ cup) rainbow sprinkles
For the buttercream:
- •170 grams (1 and ½ sticks/6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- •170 grams (6 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- •Pinch of salt
- •680 grams (24 ounces wt/about 5 1/2 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
- •15 ml (1 tablespoon) vanilla extract
- •Food coloring: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple
- •Optional: milk or cream (5 ml/1 teaspoon at a time)
*Alternatively, you can use 270 grams (5 1/3 cups) of cake flour.
Preparation
For the cupcakes: Place rack in center of oven. Pre-heat oven to 177°C (350°F). Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the milk and egg whites.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed for 2-3 minutes, or until the butter and sugar are light and creamy. While still beating at medium speed, add the vanilla extract and 1/3 of the flour mixture. Then beat in half of the milk-egg mixture. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until well incorporated, then add the rest of the milk-egg mixture, beating until fully incorporated. Finally, add the last of the dry ingredients and mix for an additional minute until thoroughly mixed and airy. Use a rubber spatula to fold the sprinkles into the batter.
Use a large scoop (approx. 45 ml/3 tablespoons) to distribute the batter to make 18-20 cupcakes. Fill each cupcake well with 2/3 of the batter. Bake for 18-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
For the rainbow buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for 5-6 minutes. With the stand mixer on low speed, add in the salt and then the powdered sugar (¼ cup at a time), and continue beating until the sugar is fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla and mix on low speed until incorporated.
Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and beat for an additional 3-4 minutes. If the buttercream is too thick, add a bit of milk or cream, one teaspoon at a time. Fit a large piping bag with your piping tip of choice. For the cupcakes in the picture, a large closed star tip was used. Set piping bag to the side.
Split the buttercream into 6 separate bowls and add a drop or two of each color to each of the bowls and mix to incorporate each color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple). Note: too much coloring can affect the taste of the buttercream so less is more.
To make the piping swirls, put a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and add lines of the colored buttercream in the following order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Wrap the plastic wrap around the buttercream to make a log. Cut off one tip of the plastic wrap log and fit it into the large piping bag with the piping tip already inserted. For the cupcakes in the picture, a large swirl was made starting in the center of each cupcake and working outwards.
