Confetti Funfetti Cupcakes
Soft, cloud-like, funfetti cupcakes are so easy to make and taste much better than the boxed stuff. Topped with a delicious vanilla meringue buttercream that complements the cupcakes perfectly, without being overly sweet! And sprinkled with colorful confetti to finish!
I am dying over here. I cannot stop thinking about these adorable, soft, cloud-like, cupcakes that are studded with colorful sprinkles and swirled with vanilla meringue buttercream frosting. And topped with more sprinkles! Somebody. Help. Me. This funfetti cupcake recipe is a keeper! It tastes much better than the cake-mix stuff and is just as easy to make!
I’ve always been a cake person. Ice cream ain’t got nothin’ on that stuff.
Don’t get me wrong – I quite frequently (maybe a little too frequently) indulge in both cake and ice cream. But if given the choice, I will without a doubt, choose cake. And if they’re cupcakes, thats even better! Who can resist?
After chocolate, funfetti cupcakes are my favorite. And would you believe my husband had never tried them? Gasp. He just couldn’t get past the chocolate ones to give anything else a try! So ironically, he went to the gym, and I whipped up a batch of funfetti cupcakes.
Let’s talk sprinkles for a second (or an eternity, I don’t mind).
FUN FACT: I used to wish my parents had named me ‘sprinkles’ when I was younger. It’s probably for the best they didn’t. But my love obsession for sprinkles hasn’t faded. ♥ If you’re following me on Instagram, you probably saw the nail-polish that inspired these cupcakes.
These sprinkles are called rainbow jimmies. They’re a lot less finicky than the non-pareils. Those tend to bleed color very quickly when you mix them in a batter-y situation. You want to use jimmies so you don’t end up with a retro tye-died cupcake. (Side note: ironically, ‘rainbow jimmies’ sounds like a name for a baker in the 70’s).
Let’s dive right into the recipe, shall we?
Flour: Our flour of choice for this recipe is cake-flour. Why? Because cake flour is going to give us that perfect tender texture. All-purpose flour is perfect for most recipes but when it comes to having a light, airy cupcake, like funfetti, the cake-flour is definitely the way to go.
Don’t have cake flour? Make it at home! Start with 1 cup + 5 tablespoons all purpose flour + 3 tablespoons corn starch. Sift the two together and you have 1 and 1/2 cup of cake flour.
This recipe calls for buttermilk. Don’t have buttermilk? Place 1 teaspoon of vinegar at the bottom of a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Add enough milk to make a 1/2 cup. Let sit 5 minutes.
Butter and the eggs: Both should be at room temperature. My butter is a little too liquidy in the picture. I live in Texas, it literally takes seconds for this to happen. Especially when pictured next to a window! Needless to say, I stuck the butter back in the fridge for a few minutes before using it!
2 things about this recipe: Don’t overmix the batter and don’t over bake the cupcakes.
Sift together the cake-flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time waiting until each egg has been incorporated completely. Add the vanilla extract. Turn the mixer off. Add 1/3 of the dry mixture, mix using a spatula. Add half the buttermilk and continue to alternate ending with the flour mixture. Add the sprinkles and fold gently.
Divide the batter into a cupcake baking tray lined with paper liners. Bake for 13 – 16 minutes. Mine were done in 14 minutes. But I would start checking as early as 12. Insert a toothpick to check. It should have a few crumbs on it without being wet. Remove from the oven. Let cool in tray for 5 mintues. Remove to a wire cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting. You want to wait at least an hour.
Now lets talk frosting. For the funfetti cupcake I wanted something that was sweet but not overpowering. I could seriously lick the entire bowl clean with just a mild sugar coma. No big deal.
2 things I want to mention: 1.) In my buttercream recipe, I use meringue powder. Meringue powder is dried egg whites mixed with cornstarch. It gives frosting that smooth texture and stability. Stability helps when piping the frosting. It also gives the frosting this iridescent sheen. Which is super cute. Meringue powder is pretty cheap at about $5 per container. I bought a large size and have never run out! You can purchase meringue powder here. It’s also sold at most craft stores and baking supply marts.
2.) Make sure to sift your confectioners sugar. Nobody wants lumpy frosting. Nobody.
To make the buttercream: Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sifted confectioners sugar, meringue powder, vanilla extract, and salt all at once beat on low speed until smooth. Add the half and half and beat the frosting until light and creamy. I used a Wiltons 2M tip to pipe my frosting.
One bite into these funfetti cupcake /vanilla meringue buttercream duo will have you loving sprinkles all over again. These are one of my favorite types of cupcakes!
Sprinkles make the world a better place, 1 cupcake at a time.
COnfetti Funfetti Cupcakes
Soft, cloud-like, funfetti cupcakes are so easy to make and taste much better than the boxed stuff. Topped with a delicious vanilla meringue buttercream that complements the cupcakes perfectly, without being overly sweet! And sprinkled with colorful confetti to finish!
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 and 1/2 cups cake flour*
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk*
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons rainbow jimmies
For the vanilla meringue buttercream:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 3 cups + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon meringue powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons half and half
- Sprinkles, for decorating
Instructions
- For the cupcakes: Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tray with 12 paper liners, set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, waiting until the egg is completely mixed before adding the next. Add the vanilla, let mix completely. Remove the bowl from the mixer and manually stir in 1/3 of the cake flour mixture. Then add 1/2 the buttermilk. Continue to alternate until all the ingredients are mixed. Fold the rainbow jimmies into the batter. Do NOT overmix. Distribute batter evenly into each paper liner. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup (it fills liners 3/4 full). Bake cupcakes for 13 - 16 minutes. Check at 12 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check, it should have crumbs but no liquid batter on it. Let cool on baking tray for 5 minutes. Move to a wire rack to cool completely. - To make the vanilla meringue buttercream: In the bowl of an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat the butter until creamy. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, vanilla extract, and salt. When the ingredients are mixed, add the half and half and beat until the frosting turns light and creamy. If frosting is too thick, add 1 additional teaspoon of half and half. If frosting is too thin, add 2 tablespoons of confectioners' sugar. I used this tip to pipe the frosting. Decorate with sprinkles.
Notes
- Store cupcakes for 3 days at room temperature in an airtight container or up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
- To make cake-flour: sift together 1 cup + 5 tablespoons all purpose flour and 3 tablespoons cornstarch.
- To make buttermilk: Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the bottom of a measuring cup add milk till it hits the 1/2 cup mark. Let sit 5 minutes.
I haven’t tried making meringue buttercream before! It looks absolutely beautiful! Pinned 🙂
You’re gonna love it! The meringue powder has a slight vanilla scent/flavor and it is absolutely delicious!
i think my search for the perfect vanilla cake recipe is finally over! thanks for sharing!
This is the first from scratch cake recipe that actually tasted pretty good, the search is over! Hurray!
Thanks Kenna! I’m so glad you found a scratch recipe that you liked, even more glad that it was mine! =)
Hi! But can I make all of the above 1 day ahead including frosting the CCs and place it in the fridge for nxt day consumption? I hve a wedding coming up and its pretty early noon. Thank U 🙂
Hi Angie,
Yes, you can make them a day ahead of time and keep them refrigerated. Just bring them back to room temperature before serving, the icing tastes best when it’s not crunchy hard out of the refrigerator!
Tks so much Marzia 🙂
Can you make this recipe into a cake instead?
Hi Monika,
I haven’t made a cake out of batter before but I don’t see why not! I would use an 8 or 9 inch baking pan to make it. Also, the baking time should be between 26-32 minutes (plus or minus a few minutes). I suggest covering the cake loosely with a piece of foil after 20 minutes of baking (that way the top doesn’t brown).
Thanks! Just put it in the oven 🙂
This makes me want to make cupcakes so badly! Also, it’s definitely for the best you weren’t named Sprinkles. You’d be obligated to become either a baker or an exotic dancer.
Hahahaha! My thoughts exactly!
Made these today for my 27 yr olds Birthday. He ask for a Confetti Cupcake. These tasted very good but the cake was very heavy. Not sure if I did something wrong. I followed the recipe exactly.
However, the frosting was to die for. Will definitely be using it again.
I’m so glad you loved the buttercream frosting!
Can you explain what you mean by heavy? Do you mean they were dense and not light and airy? I haven’t had that issue and haven’t heard anyone say they did. It could be something as simple as the baking powder/baking soda needed to be replaced. I usually find that to be the culprit when something comes out too dense.
Dense would be the right description. I did double the recipe and I used my own eggs which may have been a little small. (Even with doubling the recipe, I only got 16 cupcakes). So maybe will try again sometime…
Can I use home made sprinkles? I made them with marshmellow, icing sugar and gel coloring. His cupcake sounds like a dream 😉
Hi Tracy,
Not too sure about adding homemade sprinkles. Have you used them before in a funfetti cake recipe? I’m afraid the colors may bleed into the cake batter, leaving you with more of a tye dye effect.
Hi! I’m very excited to make these for my daughter’s 5th birthday party! Like another person who replied here, I’d need to make them a day ahead of time. If I’d been better at planning, I would have done a run-through a couple of weeks ago 🙁 But anyway, so if I do make them a day ahead of time, I would frost them the day I make them, and then put them in the fridge? And I’m thinking I’d put the sprinkles on top after they’ve come back to room temperature the next day, right?
Hi Susan! You can make the cupcakes + frost + top with sprinkles all one day ahead of time. If you’re planning on using non-pareils on top like I did, they’ll look just as good as they would if you sprinkled them on the day of the event. I just wouldn’t use colored sugar or something to the effect from the day before.
Just bring back to room temperature before serving. You could try adding the sprinkles on the day that you’re serving (once back to room temp) but i’m not sure if the sprinkles will stick on as easily as they would if the frosting was just made. Hope that helps! 🙂
What temperature do you bake the cupcakes at?
Hi Katie, as stated in the recipe card, you would bake the cupcakes at 350ºF
I just finished making these for my sister’s birthday. I had to test one, of course. These are delicious! This is my first attempt at a scratch batter and I can’t believe how good it is. I will also be replacing my go-to buttercream recipe with this meringue buttercream. Thank you for sharing these recipes!
I used this cake recipe for my daughter’s birthday party today and the cupcakes were fantastic. I did use my own buttercream recipe, but I usually use a cake mix and this was the first scratch recipe I’ve been happy with in forever! It’s a keeper!
This might be a stupid question but, when you use the vinegar to make the buttermilk, what kind do you have to use? I have Distilled White Vinegar?
white vinegar is exactly what you need 🙂
Can I use this same recipe to make a sheet cake??