Christmas Funfetti Pinata Cupcakes
These festive Christmas funfetti pinata cupcakes are such a fun and unique holiday treat recipe! The funfetti cake is DELICIOUS and stays moist for days!
Print
Pin
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened (room temp)
- 1 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract*
- 3 egg whites from large eggs
- 1/2 c sour cream
- 2 c all-purpose flour see note
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 c buttermilk**
- 1/2 c vegetable or canola oil
- 1/3 c Christmas sprinkles jimmies or circles - don't use the granulated sugar-like sprinkles
For the buttercream frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 c powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 c heavy cream***
- Dash of salt
- Gel food coloring
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together softened butter (room temp) + granulated sugar for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add in extracts + egg whites and continue to mix for about 30 seconds or until everything is incorporated. Mix in sour cream & scrape the sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually mix in the dry ingredients with the wet, mixing on low & scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Slowly pour in buttermilk & oil and mix together on low just until everything is fully incorporated.
- Turn off mixer and use spatula to scrape sides of the bowl and ensure that the batter is evenly mixed.
- Stir in sprinkles.
- Pour batter into 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Fill the liners up about 2/3-3/4 of the way to the top.
- Place pan in oven for 18 minutes, check with a toothpick, and if it doesn't come out clean, put in the oven for another couple of minutes.
- Allow cupcakes to cool for 5-10 minutes in a pan before transferring them to a cooling rack. Allow pan to completely cool and then add more cupcake liners and repeat process with remaining batter. (This recipe makes about 18-20 cupcakes.)
To make the buttercream frosting:
- Using a hand or a stand mixer (with paddle attachment), cream softened butter for 2-3 minutes on medium speed.
- Pour in vanilla extract & salt, and then gradually add in powdered sugar with the mixer on low.
- Once the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter, cream the two together on medium speed for a minute or so.
- Pour in heavy cream (on low speed) and continue to mix (on medium speed) until frosting is light and fluffy - about another minute.
- Separate icing out into 4 small bowls (leaving some white leftover in the large bowl) and use gel food coloring to tint your icings - I made 2 shades of green and 2 shades of pink/red.
- Transfer to piping bags with Wilton star tip #21 (see notes).
- Once cupcakes are completely cool, start piping pinata look by piping 3 small stars in the center of the cupcake. Then use another color to pipe around those, and keep going until you have 5 circles on your cupcake with 5 different colors. (See photos in post for details)
- Store cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temp or in the fridge for a week. This recipe stays really moist for a while!
Notes
*You can omit the almond extract if you need to accommodate nut allergies
**For buttermilk, I always just use whole milk + about a teaspoon of distilled vinegar. Measure out the milk to just below the 1/2 c line, and then add in that dash of vinegar. Allow it to sit for a few minutes, and it'll turn into buttermilk.
***You can use whole milk in lieu of heavy cream if you need to, but start with less. The cream helps give the frosting structure & lift while just slightly thinning out the icing, whereas the milk is going to thin out the icing more. So, just start with 1-2 tbsp of whole milk if you're going to use it vs. cream.
Note about the flour: When I measure my flour, I make sure the flour is loosened up a bit on top in the canister, I scoop my measuring cup in, fill it completely up, and then use a butter knife to level the top. Making sure that the flour isn't packed + leveling with the knift helps prevent you from using too much flour.
Note about the sprinkles: you want to make sure to use thicker sprinkles vs. small granulated or tiny sphere sprinkles. Jimmy sprinkles or larger circle sprinkles are best for the funfetti effect.
Note about the icing tips: I used Sunny brand from Hobby Lobby because they sell them separately and I could buy several at a time (for about $1 each). If you don't have several star tips and don't want to buy more, you can use couplers and just transfer the tip from one bag to the next. If you do this, just pipe one color at a time for all of the cupcakes, and then the transferring from bag to bag isn't so bad!
Note about the piping bags: You can use regular piping bags from any craft store or Walmart, but ever since I started using these piping bags, I've not wanted to go back! They're thinner and give you more control over the icing. I really like using them!
Decorating tip: start by icing just one cupcake completely. This will help you get the feel for how the icing flows and how large/small you need to make your circles so that all 5 fit on your cupcake. Then once you get the feel of it, you'll be able to speed up the piping process for the rest of the cupcakes.