Description
Delight in these magical Unicorn Cupcakes featuring a moist, fluffy vanilla base colored with vibrant purple hues and topped with a multi-colored, creamy buttercream frosting. Perfect for celebrations or whenever you want to add a sprinkle of whimsy to your day.
Ingredients
Scale
Cupcake Batter
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup water
- Purple/Violet gel food color, about 10-15 drops
Buttercream Frosting
- 2 cups (4 sticks / 550 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8–9 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons milk
- Purple gel food color, about 7-10 drops
- Blue gel food color, about 7-10 drops
- Pink gel food color, about 7-10 drops
- Orange gel food color, about 7-10 drops
Decoration
- Edible glitter stars or sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a cupcake or muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined and set aside.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, whisk together milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and eggs on medium speed for about 1 minute until fully combined.
- Combine Dry and Wet: Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, beating until well blended. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom to incorporate everything evenly.
- Add Water and Color: With the mixer on low, slowly add the water and approximately 10 drops of purple gel food color. Mix just until combined, adding more color if you want a deeper shade. Avoid over-mixing.
- Fill Cupcake Liners: Fill cupcake liners just a little over halfway. For easier filling, use a pancake dispenser or spoon carefully to avoid mess.
- Bake: Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Start checking at 15 minutes by inserting a toothpick—a few moist crumbs are OK, but no raw batter. For mini cupcakes, bake 9-12 minutes, checking from 9 minutes onwards.
- Cool: Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare Buttercream: In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add 4 cups of powdered sugar and beat again until smooth.
- Add Vanilla and Milk: Mix in vanilla extract and milk until smooth.
- Add Remaining Sugar: Add the remaining powdered sugar gradually and mix until smooth. If frosting is too soft, add more powdered sugar by 1/2 cup increments until desired consistency.
- Divide Frosting: Split the buttercream evenly into 4 medium bowls.
- Color the Frosting: Add purple gel color to one bowl, blue to a second, orange to the third, and pink to the fourth, stirring each thoroughly.
- Prepare for Piping: Cover your workspace with parchment or plastic to protect from staining. Set a piping bag fitted with a large star tip ready.
- Create Multi-Colored Frosting Roll: Spread roughly 1/3 of purple frosting into a 6×6 inch square on a 15-inch piece of plastic wrap. Layer blue frosting on top, then orange, then pink, spreading each layer carefully.
- Roll Frosting: Roll the plastic wrap tightly into a tube containing the layered frostings. Ensure this roll fits inside your piping bag.
- Fill Piping Bag: Insert the rolled frosting into the piping bag and perform a test pipe to move frosting toward the tip.
- Pipe Cupcakes: Pipe the frosting onto each cupcake in swirls and decorate with edible glitter stars or sprinkles.
- Repeat: Continue piping and decorating with the remaining cupcakes and frosting.
- Chill: Refrigerate the cupcakes for at least one hour before serving to allow frosting to set.
- Serve and Enjoy: Remove from fridge, let come to room temperature if preferred, and serve your magical unicorn cupcakes.
Notes
- Do not open the oven door before 15 minutes of baking to prevent cupcakes from collapsing.
- For more intense cupcake color, add gel coloring gradually but avoid over-mixing batter.
- Use a pancake dispenser or similar tool for a mess-free cupcake batter transfer.
- Adjust powdered sugar in frosting if it becomes too soft or too stiff.
- Protect your work surface when handling gel colors as they can stain easily.
- Refrigeration helps the frosting firm up, enhancing texture and appearance.
- Mini cupcakes require less baking time; check at 9 minutes.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: unicorn cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, colorful cupcakes, buttercream frosting, party cupcakes, colorful frosting
