Homemade Rainbow Cupcakes
The perfect
Not just for kids, these rainbow cupcakes are a win with adults too! These cupcakes brighten everyone’s day with a deliciously sweet taste, fluffy cake texture, and pops of color.
Perfect for parties but even better as St. Patrick’s Day treats, the cupcakes are made completely from scratch and whip up easily enough.
Surprise your guests and the
What You Need to Make This Recipe
If you have a well-stocked pantry, you’ll have all the baking supplies you need to whip up these rainbow cupcakes.
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Egg whites
- Vanilla
- Oil
- Milk
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Flour
- Powdered sugar
- Multiple food coloring
- Mini marshmallows
- cupcake liners
- cupcake pan or muffin pan
How To Change Them Up
The best part about the homemade cupcake recipe is that they can easily be decorated for any occasion. A few ways to switch up the look is to use:
Coins: Sprinkle the top of the rainbow cupcakes with small gold foil-covered chocolate coins. This is great for St. Patrick’s Day and any leprechaun theme.
Mini chocolate eggs: To make the cupcakes Easter-based, top them with super tiny chocolate pastel eggs.
Birthday cake: Add birthday sprinkles or glitter to the top for a classic look for any gathering.
Toppers: You can purchase cupcake toppers like clouds, or hearts to make a theme of the cupcakes also.
You can also vary the colors that you use in the rainbow cupcakes to reflect a Holiday. Light pink and blue make for great baby shower cupcakes. Dark green and red can be used for Christmas. Get creative with this homemade cupcake recipe and make it over and over again!
How To Make the Best Rainbow Cupcakes
Adjust the amount of food coloring you use to make the colors more pastel-like and lighter or very bright and potent.
Once you separate the egg whites, use the leftover egg yolks to make Denver Omelets or Donut Bread Pudding so that nothing goes to waste!
Make sure to let your butter come to room temperature before making the cupcakes. Otherwise, it won’t mix well into the batter.
If possible, use gel food coloring instead of traditional food coloring. The extra pop of color is worth it. And it has less chance of ruining your frosting.
For special occasions, you can flavor the base of the cupcakes according to your preference. Adding lemon or coconut extract can give the spring cupcakes a new, fresh flavor.
How do I keep the rainbow colors from mixing together?
Whenever you are making anything rainbow, you need to use separate bowls, one for each color. That way each color keeps to itself.
Once you start layering each color for the piping bag, ensure the different colors don’t overlap immediately.
How To Store Leftover Cupcakes
Leftover cupcakes can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container. Like this, they will stay fresh for up to 4 days.
If you haven’t frosted the cupcakes, you can store them in the freezer until you need them (or if you have extra). Let them cool fully before placing them in a freezer-safe plastic bag or container. Thaw them in the fridge overnight when you’re ready for them.
Rainbow Cupcakes
Equipment
- cupcake pan
- piping bags 7
- plastic wrap
- large star tip if using Wilton use 1 M large tip or any large star tip will work
- cup cake liners
Ingredients
For Cupcakes
- ½ c unsalted butter softened
- 1 ⅔ c sugar
- 6 egg whites
- 1 t vanilla
- ¼ c oil
- 1 ¼ c milk
- ½ t salt
- 2 ½ t baking powder
- 2 c flour
For Frosting
- 1 c unsalted butter softened
- 1 t vanilla
- 1 t salt
- 4 c powdered sugar
- 3 T milk
- Food coloring purple, blue, pink, orange, yellow, green
- Mini marshmallows to decorate as clouds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Put liners in the cupcake pan and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the softened butter and sugar, cream until smooth.
- Add in the egg whites, oil and vanilla, mix well
- Add the milk and mix to combine, it may look lumpy but trust the process
- in a small bowl mix in the salt, baking powder and flour
- Add in the flour mix to the butter mixture and stir on low to combine, stop the machine, scrape down the sides and mix again
- Measure out the batter and fill each cavity until about ½-⅔ full. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 14 minutes or until the cupcakes are golden brown and the center is set. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before decorating
- For the frosting – in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, vanilla, salt and about half of the powdered sugar
- Mix on low speed until combined. Add in the remaining powdered sugar and the milk. Mix on low speed until combined
- Once combined, bump up the speed to medium for an additional minute until the frosting is fluffy and smooth
- Divide the frosting – measure out ½ of a cup of frosting into separate small bowls for each of the colors you'll be using
- tint each bowl of the frosting a different rainbow color
- The remaining frosting will stay white and it can be transferred to a piping bag.
- Line out a strip of plastic wrap approximately 18-24 inches long. Pipe each color onto the plastic wrap in rainbow order – purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and then pink
- Roll the plastic wrap and coloring frosting so that they overlap. Place the log of frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star-tip
- To decorate – once the cupcakes are cool, pipe a small mound of white frosting onto each cupcake. Use a butter knife or offset spatula to spread and flatten the frosting to the edges
- Use the colored frosting bag to create an inverted “U” or horseshoe shape. Twist the piping bag mid squeeze to show all the colors and add dimension.
- Immediately place the mini marshmallow “clouds” before the frosting crusts over
