Description
These delightful Cotton Candy Cupcakes feature a soft and fluffy white cake infused with whimsical cotton candy flavor, finished with pastel pink and blue frosting and topped with colorful sanding sugar and fresh cotton candy on sticks. Perfect for parties and celebrations, these cupcakes capture the fun and sweetness of cotton candy in a handheld treat.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cake:
- 1 box white cake mix
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tbsp cotton candy flavoring
- Pink food coloring
- Blue food coloring
For the Frosting & Topping:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 – 1½ teaspoons cotton candy flavoring
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream or milk
- 3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- Blue sanding sugar
- Pink sanding sugar
- Blue cotton candy
- Pink cotton candy
- Popsicle sticks
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Batter: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin tins with 18 paper liners. In a large mixing bowl, combine the white cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, water, and cotton candy flavoring. Using an electric mixer, beat the ingredients together until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide the batter evenly between two bowls and add pink food coloring to one bowl and blue to the other, mixing until you reach your desired pastel shades.
- Layer the Batter in Cups: Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full by layering the pink and blue batters gently without swirling them together; this keeps the colors vibrant and separated for a fun, layered look.
- Bake the Cupcakes: Place the muffin tins in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of a cupcake; it should come out clean or with moist crumbs. Once baked, allow cupcakes to cool completely.
- Make the Frosting: In a stand mixer bowl, beat the softened butter, vanilla extract, and cotton candy flavoring together until smooth (about 1 minute). Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar one cup at a time, alternating with small streams of heavy cream or milk, until the frosting becomes light and fluffy. Divide the frosting between two bowls and tint one with pink food coloring and the other with blue, adjusting amounts to achieve pastel colors.
- Prepare the Dual-Color Frosting Bag: Fit a pastry bag with your desired decorating tip. Spoon the blue frosting down one side of the bag and the pink frosting down the other side. Some color mixing near the tip is expected and will create a pretty purple swirl effect.
- Frost the Cupcakes and Add Toppings: Pipe the frosting onto each cooled cupcake in swirls. Sprinkle the tops with pink and blue sanding sugars. To create cotton candy sticks, lightly wet the tip of a popsicle stick and attach a small piece of blue or pink cotton candy to it. Serve the cupcakes immediately with cotton candy sticks, noting that cotton candy hardens quickly when exposed to air, so make these sticks just before serving.
Notes
- Use only a drop or two of food coloring to achieve soft pastel colors; more coloring may muddy the batter or frosting.
- Do not swirl the batters together; layering maintains distinct colors and appealing contrast.
- Make cotton candy sticks just before serving as they harden and lose their fluffy texture quickly.
- Substitute heavy cream with milk in the frosting for a lighter option, though heavy cream contributes to better texture.
- Ensure cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting to avoid melting the frosting.
