Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

I am so disappointed.  Initially I intended to make these cupcakes "Pittsburgh Style" for the football party we had over the weekend.  Pittsburgh Style isn't anything fancy; I just thought it would be cute to dye the frosting gold (or yellow, for the non-Yinzers out there), and use only black, gold, and white sprinkles.  But neither Walmart (a.k.a. the 7th circle of Hell) nor Safeway had a very good selection of sprinkles.  Oh well.  They're still super cute!  Next time I make them, I'll put in a little extra effort and head to Michael's and hope that they have a better assortment, and larger tubs of sprinkles.


The cupcake recipe originally comes from Simply Scratch, and the frosting can be found at Best Cupcake Recipes.


You'll need:


Cupcakes (makes 24)
4 whole egg whites
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, sifted
1 tbs plus 1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sprinkles plus more for garnish


Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (enough for ~24 cupcakes)
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
6-8 cups powdered sugar (I only needed 7 cups)
1/2 cup milk
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
Food coloring, yellow


To make the cupcakes, begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line your cupcake pan with paper liners.


Combine the egg whites, vanilla, and whole milk in a bowl.  Whisk together and set aside.


In a large mixing bowl (preferably the bowl on your stand mixer), sift the dry ingredients.  Fitted with a paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients with the butter and half of the egg and milk mixture.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl and then slowly add the remaining mixture.  Stop mixing once everything is combined.

Fold in the sprinkles and fill the paper liners halfway.  Bake for 17-20 minutes, but keep an eye on them so as not to over bake.

To begin making the frosting, you'll either need to wash the bowl and paddle attachment on your stand mixer, or break out your electric hand mixer and another bowl.  


In either the stand mixer or with your electric hand mixer (or by hand!), mix the butter until smooth and creamy.


Add 4 cups of powdered sugar, the milk, and vanilla on low speed until combined.

Yep, that's 8 cups of powdered sugar right there.

Add 2 more cups of powdered sugar and on low speed mix until light and fluffy.  If necessary, add the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar.


Now that you've made your cupcakes and buttercream frosting, you can decorate your cupcakes!  It would be perfectly fine (and certainly delicious) to leave your buttercream as is, but I'm opting to jazz mine up a bit.  I took mine and added some yellow food coloring until achieving this rich gold color.


Now it's time to frost these bad boys!  I'd advise acting fairly quickly, since the buttercream can stiffen up on you in no time.  Frost 'em and add some more sprinkles and you're done!

How cute!  Thank you to my husband for serving as a hand model =)

Please check out Best Cupcake Recipes for tips on how to care for your buttercream, and for different variations.


*Post-baking notes: This frosting is SUPER sweet.  I know, I know... what did I expect?  It has like 7 cups of powdered sugar in it.  Just wanted to warn ya ;).