These Rainbow Cupcakes are super easy and cute. The perfect cupcake for St. Patrick’s Day, children’s birthday parties or any random day of the week!
Chef Jessica Approved ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
- Fun and festive for St. Patrick’s Day – Aside from shamrocks, rainbows and pots of gold are perfect for your favorite Irish holiday. And these cupcakes certainly fit the bill.
- Get the kids involved – These cupcakes are super easy and virtually foolproof. They’re a fun way to get the kids involved in the kitchen.
- No fancy tools required – You don’t need to be a professional cake decorator to make these cupcakes. No special tools required!
What to Grab at the Store
With some pre-made cupcakes, icing and decorations, these rainbow cupcakes ingredients are quite simple! A full list of ingredients with measurements is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Cupcakes – You want these to be undecorated. You can ask your local bakery for unfrosted cupcakes, or bake them at home yourself! Make homemade cupcakes or a box cake mix.
- Vanilla buttercream frosting – You can use your favorite store bought brand, or make homemade vanilla buttercream.
- Blue food coloring – While we do save some white buttercream for clouds, most of it will be dyed blue for the “sky.”
- Gold sugar pearls – These can be found at your local craft store. You can also easily order them on Amazon!
- Rainbow Candy Belts – The most popular brand I’ve seen is Air Heads. They can be found at Walmart or most local grocery stores. However I’m sure there is also an off brand you can find.
- Cake sparkles – These are optional, but I love the added affect of sparkle they give to these cupcakes.
This is How We Do It
Whether using store bought cupcakes or homemade, these rainbow cupcakes couldn’t be easier to make!
- Frost cupcakes with blue frosting. Reserve some white vanilla buttercream frosting to make the clouds. Mix the rest with blue food coloring achieving the perfect cloudy blue. Frost each cupcake.
- Pipe clouds of icing on sides of cupcake. Spoon remaining buttercream into a piping bag or a sandwich bag, snip the end. Pipe two balls on each side to secure the rainbows.
- Cut rainbow candy and secure onto cupcake. Cut rainbow candy belts into 1 1/2 inch pieces, secure them between the “clouds”.
- Place gold candies at one end of rainbow candy. Using tweezers, place gold sugar pearls into the clouds.
- Top cupcakes with sprinkles. Sprinkle cake sprinkles over “blue sky” and serve.
Storage and Freezing
How to Store
Rainbow cupcakes should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. While they will last for this long, cakes are generally best enjoyed on the day of or after baking.
Can I Freeze Rainbow Cupcakes?
If you want to freeze these cupcakes, wrap well in aluminum foil or plastic wrap without frosting. Allow to thaw unwrapped at room temperature for 30-40 minutes. Then make the frosting and top.
You can also freeze them with frosting. If you have a cupcake tin that fits in the freezer great, but I have a few plastic cupcakes containers leftover from the grocery store that I keep around to freeze just 6 without squishing the frosting.
More Pretty Cupcakes
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Rainbow Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 24 cupcakes baked and undecorated
- 2 cups Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Blue food Coloring
- 2 tablespoons Gold sugar pearls
- 1 package Rainbow Candy Belts
- 2 tablespoons Cake sparkles
Instructions
- Reserve 2 tablespoons vanilla buttercream frosting, mix the rest with blue food coloring achieving the perfect cloudy blue. Frost each cupcake.
- Spoon remaining buttercream into a piping bag or a sandwich bag, snip the end. Pipe two balls on each side to secure the rainbows.
- Cut rainbow candy belts into 1 1/2 inch pieces, secure them between the “clouds”.
- Using tweezers, place gold sugar pearls into the clouds.
- Sprinkle cake sprinkles over “blue sky” and serve.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
Nutrition
The rainbow cupcakes were so much fun!
Thank you, Camille!
love your recipes
Thank you!