These cotton candy cupcakes are my favorite dessert to make for birthday parties or baby showers. I flavored vanilla cupcakes with cotton candy flavoring then colored them bright pink and blue to create a super fun dessert kids will love. The pink and blue makes these cupcakes so fun for gender reveal parties, but I think they’re great any time of year!
Cotton Candy Cupcake Recipe
As soon as Memorial Day passes, I’m in full summer mode and I start getting a hankering for all the best fair foods. I especially love cotton candy desserts, like my cotton candy s’mores. And I love making my beautiful cotton candy cake for special occasions…but sometimes I want a much easier version. That’s when I make these easy cotton candy cupcakes instead!
I used a box of vanilla cake mix to make these simple cupcakes, but infused them with cotton candy extract for a wonderfully sweet flavor. Then I colored them pink and blue to mimic my favorite festive fair treat. They’re super simple to make with just 6 ingredients, and they come together quickly, too.
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Gender Reveal Cupcakes
Since these cotton candy cupcakes are pink and blue, they’d be perfect for a gender reveal party or baby shower. Keep them as is for a baby shower, or pop out the centers of the cooled cupcakes with a piping tip, fill them with the appropriate colored frosting or prepared instant pudding, then decorate with the swirled frosting for a gender reveal surprise in the center!
Cotton Candy Cupcakes Recipe
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
- 2 Cupcake Tin
- Hand Mixer
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 15.25 ounces vanilla cake mix (1 box)
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup unsalted butter slightly melted (1 stick)
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon cotton candy extract *
- Gel food coloring pink and blue**
For the Buttercream Frosting
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature (1½ sticks)
- ¼ teaspoon cotton candy extract
- Gel food coloring pink and blue
- Cotton candy optional, for topping
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 16 wells of two 12-count cupcake tins with paper liners. Set aside.
- Mix the cake mix, water, butter, eggs, and cotton candy extract in a large bowl.15.25 ounces vanilla cake mix, ¾ cup water, ½ cup unsalted butter, 3 large eggs, 1 teaspoon cotton candy extract
- Separate the batter equally between two separate bowls. This works out to be about 435 grams of batter per bowl.
- Color one bowl of batter a light pink and color the second bowl of batter a light blue. Stir in the color gently but don’t over mix the batter.Gel food coloring
- Layer the cupcake batter in each cupcake wrapper but be careful not to overfill the cupcake wrappers. The cupcake wrappers should not be more than ¾ of the way filled or the cupcakes won’t bake up properly. For half of the cupcakes, start with blue batter on the bottom, then pink batter in the middle, then blue batter on top. For the other half of the cupcakes, start with pink batter on the bottom, blue batter in the middle, then pink batter on top.
- Place cupcakes in the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle of cupcakes comes out clean.
- Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
For the Buttercream Frosting
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the powdered sugar, softened butter, and cotton candy extract together on high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.3 cups powdered sugar, ¾ cup unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon cotton candy extract
- Separate buttercream frosting equally between two bowls. Color one bowl of frosting pink and the other bowl of frosting blue.Gel food coloring
- Place frostings in tipless icing bags and frost cooled cupcakes.Cotton candy
Notes
- Take care not to overmix the batter; otherwise, your cupcakes will be dense and chewy.
- Wait to frost the cupcakes until they have fully cooled, or else the frosting will melt off!
- If topping cupcakes with cotton candy, note that cotton candy dissolves quickly once taken out of the packaging. If you’d like to serve cotton candy on top of the cupcakes, only place the cotton candy on the tops of cupcakes right before serving or you’ll end up with a dissolved cotton candy mess on the top of the cupcakes. It only takes cotton candy about 10 minutes to start dissolving once exposed to the air.
- Nutritional information does not include optional ingredients.
How to Make Cotton Candy Cupcakes Step-by-Step
Mix the Batter: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 16 wells of two 12-count cupcake tins with paper liners and set aside. Mix 15.25 ounces (1 box) of vanilla cake mix, ¾ cup of water, ½ cup of slightly melted unsalted butter, 3 large eggs, and 1 teaspoon of cotton candy extract in a large bowl.
Color the Batter: Separate the batter equally between two separate bowls. This works out to be about 435 grams of batter per bowl. Color one bowl of batter a light pink and color the second bowl of batter a light blue with gel food coloring. Stir in the color gently but don’t overmix the batter.
Layer the Batter: Layer the cupcake batter in each cupcake wrapper but be careful not to overfill the cupcake wrappers. The cupcake wrappers should not be more than ¾ of the way filled or the cupcakes won’t bake up properly. For half of the cupcakes, start with blue batter on the bottom, then pink batter in the middle, then blue batter on top. For the other half of the cupcakes, start with pink batter on the bottom, blue batter in the middle, then pink batter on top.
Bake the Cupcakes: Bake cotton candy cupcakes in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Let them cool completely before frosting.
Beat the Frosting: In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat 2 cups of powdered sugar, ¾ cup of softened unsalted butter, and ¼ teaspoon of cotton candy extract together on high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Color the Frosting: Separate buttercream frosting equally between two bowls. Color one bowl of frosting pink and the other bowl of frosting blue with gel food coloring.
Frost the Cupcakes: Place frostings in tipless icing bags and frost the cooled cupcakes. Top each one with a piece of cotton candy just before serving, if desired.
How to Store
Store cotton candy cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before enjoying cold or at room temperature.
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