Rainbow Cupcakes are dessert with several layers of cake having vivid colors, topped with a dazzling clouds of vanilla frosting and rainbows on top. Since life doesn’t always have rainbows and skittles, but some occasions it could be. A perfect dessert for any occassion or birthday celebrations.
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My Baby Turned ONE!
How does time fly by so fast? My little sweet baby girl turned one year old, it’s so crazy! It feels like yesterday we brought her home, all 6 lbs 14 ounces of her little sweetness. She came to us after two devastating miscarriages. She’s my rainbow baby. So naturally for her very first birthday, I would celebrate with nothing but rainbows and these Rainbow Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing are perfect. My oldest baby was my Rock through the tough times but my littlest girl is, and always will be, my sweet rainbow baby.
These Rainbow Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing were perfect for her birthday celebration! They are great for birthday parties, baby showers, or like my three year old suggests, ‘Just Because’. The cupcakes are light and fluffy with a hint of almond extract. Creating that beautiful rainbow pattern takes a bit of time but is easy and looks super cool! The cream cheese icing is simply delish. There is no such thing as too much of this stuff!
Rainbow Smash Cake!
I created this recipe to make 24 cupcakes but can easily be halved for a dozen rainbow beauties, or in the case of my littlest babes first birthday, 18 cupcakes and 1 smash cake! I simply took 1/3 cup from each colour and baked each in six small pyrex dishes. From there I used my 3″ cookie cutter to cut perfect circles out of each colour, and stacked them all up using sprinkle icing as the glue in between each layer! The result is simply adorable!
How to make Rainbow Cupcakes
After making the cake batter divide it six ways. Colour with gel food colouring until you’ve got the desired colours.
Build up the cupcakes layer by layer, just applying a small amount of each colour per layer. If you have leftover batter you can go back and fill in the spaces. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350° until a toothpick comes out clean.
Once cooled, take a piping tip and cut a whole into the top of the cupcake. Keep aside the top of the piece you cut out.
Fill with sprinkles and replace the top of the cut out.
Pipe the cream cheese icing onto these adorable cupcakes and serve at your next party!
Have fun with these super fun and delicious Rainbow Cupcakes!
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Rainbow Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
Rainbow Cupcakes
- 6 egg whites
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 6 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 tsp clear vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 4 cups flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- red, orange, yellow, green, blue and red gel food colouring
- 6 disposable piping bags
- rainbow sprinkles
- white sprinkles
Cream Cheese Icing
- 2 x 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2.5-3 cups icing sugar
Instructions
Equipment Needed
- Medium Bowl
- Piping Tip to hollow out cupcakes
Directions
Rainbow Cupcakes
- Heat oven to 350° and line 24 cupcake tins with 24 cupcake liners.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment whip the eggs for a few minutes until stiff peaks form. Scrape out the bowl and set aside. In the same bowl with the paddle attachment beat the butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and almond extract.
- In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half to the butter and mix until just incorporated. Add half the buttermilk and mix until just incorporated. Do the same for the second half of the flour mixture and the same for the second half of the milk. Fold in the egg whites.
- Divide the batter into 6 different bowls and mix each with a different food colouring gel until the desired colour has been achieved. I used red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Fill 6 disposable piping bags with each bowl of batter.
- Pipe a very thin layer of red into the bottom of all 24 cupcake liners. You should use up the whole bag. Do the same with the orange then yellow, green, blue and last purple. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let rest for ten minutes before transferring the cupcakes to a cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Icing
- To make the icing whip the cream cheese in the stand mixer with the paddle attachment until completely smooth. Whip in the butter then vanilla. Mix in sifted icing sugar until desired thickened has been achieved.
- Use the bottom of a piping tip to cut a hollow into the centre of each cupcake. Fill the space with rainbow sprinkles and place the cut circle back into the opening. Pipe the cream cheese icing onto each cupcake and top with white sprinkles. Beautiful!
Tips & Tricks For Rainbow Cupcakes Recipe
- Do not worry about weighing the batter to make sure it’s evenly distributed. Use a 1-cup measure and the little bit left could be the color you prefer.
- If you want to bake these cupcakes without cupcake wrappers would highly suggest a muffin tin made of silicone.
- Ziploc bags! Pipe them in muffin tins using ziploc bags. This makes life so much easier than spreading and spooning each layer.
- Clear vanilla will keep your frosting bright white! If you’re looking for the most white frosting, substitute your butter with shortening. Butter is a better choice, however.
- Do not overbake, as you don’t want your tops turning brown.
Rainbow Unicorn Cupcakes
The quintessential unicorn cupcakes are just the perfect treat for all the unicorn fans out there.
What’s more cute than cupcakes with unicorns? The adorable tie dye rainbow unicorn cupcakes are made from scratch and decorated with colorful pastel colors and unicorn-themed cake decorations. They’re great for parties or any time to serve as a treat or reward.
Frosting and Decoration of Rainbow Unicorn Cupcakes
- Blend the butter using an electric beater until it becomes pale and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and mix. Incorporate the confectioner’s granules, one cup at a time, and then beat for 3 to 5 minutes until it becomes fluffy.
- Coat the cupcakes’ surface evenly with the buttercream that is white.
- Divide the buttercream in six bowls. Make one bowl white, and color the rest of the bowls pink blue, yellow, green, black, and blue.
- Put a piping bag with the piping tip in the shape of a star inside an oversized glass. Spread four vertical lines of white buttercream onto the insides of your bag. Spread them evenly, space them out. Distribute the pink buttercream over one space. Repeat with the green, yellow as well as blue. Make sure you squeeze enough buttercream from the edge until five shades are released.
- Pour the black buttercream into the piping bag that has a round piping tip.
- Pipe swirls of buttercream around to create the unicorn’s mane. Add a big dollop of buttercream in the middle in which the horn will be.
- Mini marshmallows can be cut in half diagonally to make ears. Dip the cut, sticky side of the marshmallows into pink sugar to create the pinks of the ears.
- Put the ears on cupcakes and then stick the candle horns inside the cupcakes. Pipe the eyelashes and eyes onto the cupcakes and then enjoy the beautiful rainbow unicorn cupcakes !
Anything I missed? If you have any questions at all leave them in the comment section below!
Hi Aleta. We have just finished enjoying some of your “to die for” chocolate cheesecake! Amazing! Scrumptious! Thank you!!! Love Auntie Sharon, Uncle Bruce, Uncle Dave and Gram
Yay!!! So glad you loved it! <3
These are beyond fun!! Love all those colours! Bet my niece (and her friends) would love this for her birthday!
They probably would! My 3 year old is still asking me to make them again!!
Happy Birthday to your little one! What cute and wonderfully colourful cupcakes! Love the sprinkles too. These cupcakes would be a hit at any birthday party!
Thanks so much!!
These are so incredibly cute and cheerful! Happy birthday to your sweet baby girl – those are such cute photos to treasure forever!
Thank you!!!
Made this for 3 birthdays already, comes out perfect every time and my kids love it! Thanks so much!
I am so glad to hear, Patricia, my girls love them as well!!