Our piñata cupcakes are filled with red, white, and blue sprinkles and kids love them! The cake is delicious and topped with buttercream frosting that's also colored red, white, and blue.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Resting Time20 minutesmins
Total Time55 minutesmins
Servings: 12cupcakes
Calories: 218kcal
Author: Lucy Brewer
Ingredients
1 ½cupsall purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
¼teaspoonkosher salt
½cupunsalted butter, softened
1cupgranulated sugar
3large egg whites, room temperature
2teaspoonsimitation vanilla extract, or another clear extract
¾cupbuttermilk, or whole milk
¼cupred, white, and blue sprinkles
Buttercream Frosting
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°. In a standard muffin tin, place 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a medium or large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well mixed. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar together with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until smooth.
Add the egg whites and vanilla extract to the butter mixture, and continue beating on medium speed until everything is well mixed.
Pour about a third of the dry ingredients into the egg and butter mixture, and beat on medium-low speed.
Add in the remaining dry ingredients along with the buttermilk, and fold everything together until just mixed. Some medium or small lumps in the batter are okay. (Careful not to over mix or the cupcakes may not rise well in the oven.)
Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners about two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle cupcakes comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to rest for about 20 minutes on a cooling rack, then use a sharp paring knife to cut 1/2 inch deep holes out of the center of each cupcake. Save the cupcake centers.
Spoon 1 teaspoon of sprinkles into each cupcake hole, and cover the top of the holes with the reserved cupcake centers. Set aside.
With a small paint brush (dedicated to baking and cooking), paint stripes of the red and blue food gel color on opposite sides of the inside of the piping bag with a large star piping tip attached. (It helps if you place the piping bag into a large cup so you can free up your hands for painting.)
Scoop the buttercream into the piping bag, and pipe it in a swirling motion onto the cupcakes. Make sure the hole cut out of the centers of the cupcakes is covered with frosting.
Serve at room temperature, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.