Just when I thought I had tried every cupcake recipe that children would love – I found this pinata cupcake idea that is truly over the top! My grand babies loved these! I let them guess what was inside of them – and even that didn’t stop their joy when they bit into a secret cave of sprinkles!! Pure joy!
This sweet little (almost) 3 year old enjoyed her cupcake so much – she played with the sprinkles long after the cupcake was eaten!
I used my favorite vanilla cake mix (King Arthur Flour Golden Vanilla Cake mix), but you can use your favorite scratch, or mix recipe. Bake cupcakes, and cool completely.
Combine a mixture of your favorite sprinkles. Cut a hole in each cupcake, using a sharp knife. Save the little cake cap, cut off the excess cake, leaving about a 1/4″ disc. This will cover the sprinkles.
Add about 1 Tbsp of sprinkles to the holes, and cover with the cake disc.
Top with your favorite frosting. I used my favorite cream cheese buttercream.
Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
4 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (or other flavoring)
Paste food coloring
Add butter, cream cheese, and flavoring to a stand mixing bowl, with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until very smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Start the mixer on LOW (you can even pulse it a few times, to incorporate the sugar into the creamed mixture, to avoid the sugar going all over you and the counter!) Then mix on med – med high, til well-blended. Once all 4 cups of sugar are incorporated, blend on high til there is a smooth, whipped appearance.
To get the look of soft ribbons of frosting, with color on the edges – use a TINY amount of paste food coloring in 2-3 colors. I used a large piping bag, added an open star tip, and placed it upright in a tall glass. Then I “painted” on a SMALL amt of the food coloring using a small paintbrush, or a long wooden skewer dipped in the paste. Paint the food coloring in straight lines on the inside of the piping bag. Place only 2-3 colors,in lines of color, evenly spaced. Fill the piping bag with the buttercream frosting. Pipe onto the cupcakes.
Store in the refrigerator covered, for up to 1 week. Each cupcake will vary slightly from the next – which I think makes them even more unique, and charming to the children that will devour them!
How fun are these??
