Easy Rainbow Cupcake Recipe

No need for a pot of gold when you’ve got these cupcakes around! These colorful rainbow cupcakes are perfectly moist, topped with the most amazing buttercream. They’ll light up any party! You can’t go wrong with cupcakes. Churro, cannoli, and lemon blueberry cupcakes are just a few of my other favorites that you need to try!

Rainbow Cupcakes With Buttercream Frosting Recipe

If you’re looking for the most magical dessert around, this is it! Make these rainbow cupcakes for St. Patty’s, birthdays, or just when you want to add a pop of color to your day! My youngest is obsessed with anything rainbow, so as you can imagine these are pretty common at my house. The good news is, they’re actually really easy to make! All it takes is a little bit of layering to make the magic happen. The cupcakes are vanilla flavored and made with buttermilk to be extra moist and tender! All you’ve got to do is separate your batter into bowls, break out your food coloring, and then layer! The homemade buttercream frosting is the cherry on top. So smooth and creamy! Rainbow cupcakes are so easy to prepare but will impress everyone. Let’s get baking!

Rainbow Cupcake Ingredients

These cupcakes use a lot of standard baking ingredients to make your life a little easier. They’re the perfect last-minute treats for a party! You’ll find most, if not all of the ingredients in your pantry! Measurements for each ingredient can all be found in the recipe card below.

Cake Flour: I love using cake flour because it gives my cakes a fine, tender crumb. Granulated Sugar: Added for sweetness.Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Both are crucial for a cake that rises properly!Salt: To keep the cake nice and flavorful.Buttermilk: My secret weapon! The acidity in buttermilk helps to make your cupcakes super moist and tender.Milk: Adds fat content and helps the batter to mix together smoothly.Clear Vanilla: Clear vanilla is a must here! Regular vanilla extract adds a yellow hue to your rainbow cupcakes and will mess up the vibrancy of the colors.Vegetable Oil: Adds moisture and works to bind ingredients together when baked.4 Egg Whites: The key to a light and fluffy batter!

Buttercream Frosting

Unsalted Butter: The foundation of your frosting. Let this come to room temperature before using so everything mixes together smoothly.Powdered Sugar: For sweetness and a smooth texture.Vanilla Extract: Used to give your buttercream frosting a deeper flavor.Salt: Add a pinch of salt to enhance flavor!Milk: Milk is added to the frosting for creamy flavor and moisture.Rainbow Ribbon Candy: I used Airhead Extremes!

How to Make Rainbow Cupcakes

Making the Buttercream Frosting

Preparing Egg Whites: Egg whites are crucial to light and fluffy cupcakes. Only mix until you reach medium peaks. If you mix more than that, they will deflate. Also, use a gentle hand when folding them into your cake batter.Don’t Overmix Batter: If you overmix your cake batter, gluten will develop. Instead of light and fluffy rainbow cupcakes, they’ll be dense and rubbery.Avoid Overfilling: You only want to fill your liners ⅔ of the way full. This can be tricky since we’re layering different colors, so only add a little batter at a time so you don’t fill them too high. If they’re above the ⅔ mark they may overflow in the oven.

At Room Temperature: Store rainbow cupcakes in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap for up to 3 days.

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All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.