Funfetti Cupcakes with Unicorn Frosting
The most beautiful vanilla funfetti cupcakes frosted with a colorful pastel buttercream frosting and sprinkles!
I have been waiting to share these amazing homemade funfetti cupcakes with you guys for like two months. This is one of my favorite recent recipes and everyone who’s tried them has agreed!
How to make funfetti cupcakes
I’m not sure if you’re aware but funfetti cupcake recipes are basically just fun vanilla cupcakes lol. So this recipe uses my basic vanilla cupcake recipe. I created this base cupcake recipe for my cookbook, Frosted, because I wanted to have the most perfectly domed, fluffy and tender WHITE vanilla cupcakes.
The color shouldn’t matter but I really don’t like when cupcakes are white and then they brown on the edges. (Some of them still brown a little if they’re slightly overfilled and touch the metal pan while baking – specifically a dark pan). I also didn’t want a super yellow cupcake so this was quite a process.Â
You can also make these funfetti cupcakes as a small batch if you use my small batch cupcake recipe.
What you’ll need:
- Cake Flour: I don’t usually prefer cake flour for my cakes but for these cupcakes it’s pretty essential. You can do the cake flour substitute with all-purpose flour and cornstarch but keep in mind that it is a substitute and won’t be exactly the same but they will still turn out good.Â
- The most important factor is measuring the flour correctly. I recommend using a digital scale to weigh your ingredients, especially flour.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: I use both to balance the acidity of the sour cream but you can also make them using 1½ tsp baking powder, just keep in mind the flavor might be just slightly more acidic.Â
- Whole Milk and Sour Cream: I use both whole milk and sour cream because the high fat content makes up for the lack of egg yolks in the recipe. I have also made them with 2% milk and yogurt but I would opt for a full fat yogurt.Â
- Oil and Butter: I use both oil and butter in almost all my cake recipes because I like the structure and flavor of butter and the moisture from oil. Any kind of neutral flavored oil works.Â
- Granulated Sugar: Sugar provides both sweetness and structural support, I don’t recommend cutting out any sugar. In my opinion, the sweetness of the cupcakes is balanced with the buttery frosting.Â
- Egg whites: I use only egg whites for this recipe because I wanted the cupcakes to be pale. You can use fresh egg whites or carton egg whites but I have not tested this recipe with an egg alternative.Â
- Vanilla: I recommend a combination of pure vanilla extract (or paste) and artificial vanilla extract for the ultimate funfetti flavor.Â
What kind of sprinkles to use for funfetti cupcakes
My top two recommendations for sprinkles to use in funfetti cakes are rainbow jimmies or rainbow sequins. Both of these are soft enough to melt into the batter when they’re baked but not too soft that they melt before the batter is baked.
I don’t recommend using nonpareils, they can streak the batter, creating either a tie dye effect or even a mixed muddy color if they’re overmixed.
In the photo above, you can see I added some fancy sprinkles, which had a mix of different kinds. This worked for me because I added only a few of those and used mostly pastel rainbow sequins.
How to make unicorn frosting
For the basics and step by step details on this frosting, check out my post on How To Make French Buttercream. I used this buttercream because we had extra egg yolks from the cupcakes that I didn’t want to waste.
I also love that it has a custardy flavor and isn’t as sweet so it balances the cupcakes well.
For the unicorn flavor, I did a combination of vanilla, almond and cotton candy extract. My family was absolutely obsessed with the flavor so I hope you guys are just as impressed, lol.
How to color French Buttercream
Coloring the frosting can be a little difficult since it already has a yellow tint from the egg yolks but the best way to go about it, is to just add 1-2 drops of food coloring at time.
If you use pure blue, it may turn slightly greenish blue from the yellow base so I added 1-2 drops of purple as well. For the pink, if you add pure pink or red, it’ll be a warmer version, towards orange so I added 1-2 drops of purple to that as well. Just be careful not to add too much because there’s no going back!
For the swirl, the best way to explain how it’s done is by looking at the photos, lol.
How to serve and store cupcakes
These funfetti cupcakes are best served fresh at room temperature.
Store them in an airtight container, at room temperature for 2-3 days.
If it’s longer than that, store them in an airtight container, refrigerated for 7-10 days but bring them back to room temperature before serving.
To freeze them, place them in an airtight container and then place the container in a freezer bag, squeezing out all the excess air. Freeze for 2-3 months, defrost in the fridge overnight and then bring them to room temperature before serving.
Thanks so much for checking out today’s post. If you have any questions, just comment down below and if you make these cupcakes, make sure to tag me @baranbakery on instagram! As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
I have a question about temperatures. I feel like it would need to be a lower temperature when using a convection oven. Am I wrong?
Hi, I always find that my bottoms are too dark when baking without convection so I this is what I do 🙂 Most convection ovens adjust to 325F when they’re set to 350F to make up for that difference in heat. If you feel like your oven browns too much on convection, you can lower the temperature a little.
These are my new go-to funfetti cupcakes! They are so soft and fluffy, moist, and wonderfully flavorful! The reverse creaming method works wonders for a really plush cupcake, and I love how fluffy they get from the egg whites! Previously I used a recipe that required beating the egg whites separately and then folding them in, yet these results are just as good if not better, and you simply have to whisk them in. Also, I used pure vanilla bean paste in these and it just knocked the flavor out of the park! I feel like vanilla/funfetti cupcakes can often be bland and just taste like a sugar headache, but these were so delicious and paying a little extra for real vanilla to use in these is worth it! Definitely going to be my new go-to!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I am not exaggerating when I say these are the BEST cupcakes I’ve ever had! No bakery or any other recipe has topped these and I’ve been making these for 3 years. I make them for my partner’s birthday and it comes out perfect every single time! The only thing I change is cheesecake frosting instead of buttercream 🙂
Omg wow thank you so much!! I’m so glad you like the cupcakes, they are one of my favs as well!
I LOVE this recipe! Does this work well for layers? I see you use AP flour for your layered cakes. I prefer cake flour for any sort of vanilla/white cake. Would this cake flour recipe be stable enough to stack? ??
Hi Melissa, I have no tried this recipe with as a cake but I do have a very similar one coming soon 🙂 It’s a vanilla cake recipe with egg whites and cake flour so the texture is more similar to the cupcake. It’ll be posted under a “strawberry vanilla cake”.
I did it as a 9×13 cake. I doubled it and it came out great.
Thanks for letting us know!!