I remember learning the colors of the rainbow as a kid in piano class. It was one of the first lessons in my primer - a song titled "Roy G. Biv". Just saying it takes me back to that ticking metronome. I'm tapping out a few rudimentary notes that are supposed to resemble a song about rainbows. I must have played that little ditty a hundred times before getting it right!
All these years later I still remember the simple words to that song. It was stuck in my head as I frosted these cupcakes in the same sequence of hues.
The idea for these came from a nice big box of goodies that Wilton sent me. Inside was a book all about cupcakes and other fun things like colorful batter mix-ins and candy sprinkles. I thought the green "batter bits" with rainbow frosting would make a great St. Paddy's day treat. But heck! They turned out so cheery, I'd make them anytime someone needed an infusion of sugary happiness. Talk about a pick-me-up!
I can't wait to try out a mini version of these. I've got some Sixlets candies that would make a perfect mini "cherry" on top. I also think this same technique would be beautiful done in ombre hues.
Rainbow Frosting Cupcakes
Yield: 12-13 cupcakes
Start to finish: 3 hours +
Source: SprinkleBakes original recipes, technique inspired by Cupcakes! by Wilton
[click for printable version]
These are a bit of work from scratch, so using a white cake mix may be a time-saving option for busy bakers. I do suggest homemade frosting . It should be one you really love because these cupcakes hold a tall amount. Using disposable cups or bowls is a good idea when mixing so many different colors of icing. I chose a maraschino cherry as a topper, but you could use a candy cherries found at bulk candy stores.

Sour cream cake
1/2
cup butter softened
1 cup
granulated sugar
2
eggs
1 tsp
vanilla
1 3/4
cups flour
1/2
tsp baking soda
1/4
tsp baking powder
1/4
tsp salt
1/2
cup sour cream
1/2 milk
Wilton
Green color mix-ins, optional
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. in a medium sized bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup sour cream. Add flour and milk mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Batter will be thick. Fold in color mix-ins, if using.
- Fill cupcake papers with 1/4 cup level measures of batter. Bake for 17 minutes. Let cool and set aside.
Buttercream frosting
This is a simple confectioners' vanilla buttercream that is white so it will show color well, but if you prefer, you can find my Swiss buttercream recipe here, which will work well also.
2
cups of unsalted butter, softened
2 lbs.
confectioners’ sugar - the finest you can find (usually 10x)
2-4 tablespoons whole milk
2-4 tablespoons whole milk
1
tsp. Clear vanilla extract
*
Additional milk or heavy cream, as needed
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the butter and confectioners’ sugar. Begin mixing on low speed until crumbly, and then increase to high and beat for 3 minutes. Add milk gradually until it is piping consistency.
- Add vanilla extract and beat again for several minutes until light and fluffy.
Tint/top
Violet gel food coloring
Royal blue gel food coloring
Leaf green gel food coloring
Golden yellow gel food coloring
Orange gel food coloring
12 maraschino cherries with stems, drained and patted dry
This is an estimation of the tinted icing amounts I used for these cupcakes. You’ll need a larger amount of violet versus the much smaller amount of orange.
Divide
the icing and tint accordingly. The only color you’ll need to create is indigo,
and you can do that by adding one part blue food coloring to one part violet
food coloring to untinted icing.
Have ready these amounts and frost in this order:
2 1/3
cups violet
1 1/2
cups indigo
1 cup
blue
2/3
cup green
1/2
cup yellow
1/3
cup orange
- Transfer violet icing to a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip (Wilton 2A). I’m confident this could also be done with a zip-top bag with a corner snipped.
- Pipe an even line of frosting around the edge of a cupcake and then lightly fill in the middle with frosting. Repeat process with remaining frostings, getting smaller in diameter as you change icing colors. Repeat process with remaining cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a maraschino cherry.
Disclaimer: Colorburst batter bits and Cupcakes! book were provided by Wilton. Wilton did not ask me to review these products, but I found them useful and of possible benefit and interest to SprinkleBakes readers.
These are so beautiful, Heather! I adore them!!
ReplyDeleteSo cute and colorful! I love those cupcakes.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Rosa
Fabulous!!
ReplyDeleteLovely!
ReplyDeleteSo adorable!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh my godness ! They look so amazing !
ReplyDeleteI love the idea, thanks for sharing !
kind regards from vienna,
melanie
I love the rainbow of colors!!
ReplyDeletethey totally remind me of the Fisher Price rainbow stacking rings! Love these cupcakes - a clever take on the St. Patty's day rainbow.
ReplyDeleteThese look so much fun!!! =)
ReplyDeleteErgo - Blog
So pretty! It's a rainy day here and this bright splash of color first thing in the morning is refreshing.
ReplyDeleteI need color burst batter bits in my life! These are adorable Heather!
ReplyDeleteOh. Ma. Ghee. For serious? These are amazeballs. I just want to put some of that cuteness into my face. So pretty, Heather!!
ReplyDeleteThese are perfect to add some color to a dreary winter day. So beautiful!
ReplyDeletesono spettacolari, dei piccoli capolavori, complimenti!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteVery adorable! My kids would love them :)
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely. It would be even better if you didid the base with a sugar boiling icing as the cloud and the the rainbow! Or the cup cake lining
ReplyDeleteThese are amazing!! So perfect for St. Patty's!!
ReplyDeleteSo very cute!
ReplyDeleteOh these are just gorgeous! You are so super talented :)
ReplyDeletewww.ciderwithrosiebee.blogspot.com
This was such a delightful post to read. I needed a pick-me-up, and you mentioned THREE of my favorite things - cake, rainbows, and mini's! Thank you for the Friday morning cheer.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty cupcakes, I love how you've graduated the colours and topped off with a cherry :)
ReplyDeleteThese are so incredibly cute. The kinda remind me of one of those colourful stacking ring baby toys too which makes them even more cuter!
ReplyDelete-Lisa.
Sweet 2 Eat Baking
These are so adorable! I love the green bits inside!
ReplyDeleteYou can tell I'm and 80's/90's kid because my first thought was "Rainbow Brite!". These are super cute! I'll have to keep this in mind for nephew/niece's birthday parties!
ReplyDeleteSO cute! And the cherry on top is just perfect.
ReplyDeleteSo bright and cheerful!
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't get much prettier than this!
ReplyDeleteLove this idea (mmm...and so much icing..my favourite part!).
ReplyDeleteThese are SO pretty! I was thinking about dong something like this for my friends birthday coming up, thank you for the inspiration :)
ReplyDeleteThese just make me happy. Period.
ReplyDeleteThese have got to make you smile! Ok, and put on a pound or two...
ReplyDeleteLove its ingredients and vivid colors!
ReplyDeleteOh these look so pretty and colorful. It sort of reminds me of being a the circus, haha :)
ReplyDeleteWow! Has anyone yet mentioned how reminiscent these cupcakes are of Rainbow Brite?! Perfect picture through the link below...
ReplyDeletehttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gz_fYJc6Rzo/TnNIk3CbI_I/AAAAAAAAAc0/CqlG5oYz39Y/s1600/rainbow+bright+beltwm.jpg
How could these not put a smile on your face - they're gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous! I can see why you would eat them for breakfast! They are so cherry! I will be frosting some rainbow cupcakes soon!!!!
ReplyDeleteThese have to be the most joyful cupcakes I've seen. I think kid and adults alike would go crazy for them!
ReplyDeleteHeather ~ these cupcakes are so playful and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteThese are too cute to eat! So joyful :)
These are so pretty. I am sure that there must be a leprechaun's pot of gold on the other side of those cupcakes :) Or maybe some golden filling inside the cupcake for St. Patrick's day? Fun!
ReplyDeleteWow! Those are perfect for St. Paddy's Day! Good call!
ReplyDeleteThese cupcakes make me giddy!!! I think I could stare at them for a looooog time:) Love that the red "layer" is a cherry:) GORGEOUS photos!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I ever learned a Roy G. Biv song, but I definitely was taught to remember the colors of the rainbow with that acronym. I still remember all kinds of silly songs from when I was really young in school. I love how fun these cupcake are; like you said, they'd be the perfect way to put a smile on someone's face any time of year!
ReplyDeleteEach time I visit your blog, as soon as I lay my eyes on photos of your sweet creations I'm all OMG, as in "ohmygodthisissoooadorablewhatanabsolutelyfantasticideathosecoloursthoseflavoursthatdisplayandcompositionIwanttostayhereforever!" ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for making me smile! ^ ^
Such a vibrant color combination-) Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteStunning! I need to show this to my wife and get her to make some for me lol.
ReplyDeleteThe rainbow frosting and the green sprinkles inside are perfect for St. Patty's Day!!! Yum!!
ReplyDeleteThese look great but I would use your recipe for the sprinkles cake. I have used it over and over for cupcakes and people always seem to love it. I usually get close to 2 dozen cupcakes for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThis looks so great! with something as beautiful as this, no need to look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Best of luck! :)
ReplyDeleteI love these! I've added them to my weekly wonders post - http://charlottemusha.com/weekly-wonders-9/
ReplyDeleteI'm the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your cupcakes! You can see it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://funfamilycrafts.com/rainbow-cupcakes-2/
If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!
So bright! You can feel the coming of spring!
ReplyDeleteOh wow what gorgeous cupcakes, I love the rainbow frosting!
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful... I cannot wait to try making them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the recipe, it will be perfect for Easter.
I was really disappointed by these. They didn't keep their shape at all :(
ReplyDeleteHi Alee,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the recipe didn't work out for you. I assume you are talking about the frosting and not the cake? A tip if you decide to make these again, or other cakes with tall frosting - add a little extra confectioners' sugar to the mix if the icing is too lax. This will help the frosting hold its shape.
H
Too pretty! I love every color and the cherry on top is perfect! : )
ReplyDeleteWow. I found your site and have been oogling over many of your post for at least a half hour. I could stay longer if it was possible!! You are so talented. Photos are amazing. I wish I was you right now!! lol. No really, you are so inspiring! I love to bake, but I find that most of my time ends up being spent on recipe creation for main dishes etc. I needed this new inspiration for baking all over again. I love it. These cupcakes are so cheery and adorable. I think I will make these for my son's 2nd birthday this december. Love love love the blog. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete~Laura Muir
You can find me at:
Fresh Cooking=Happy People
www.freshcookinghappypeople.blogspot.com
The are so pretty! I might have to try making a gluten/dairy free version :)
ReplyDeleteLove this recipe! I wanted to feature your photo and recipe on my blog as well as in my BlogHer blog, may I have permission to do so? We're featuring some favorite St Pattys day inspired rainbow recipes! Thank you for your time in advance!
ReplyDeleteTabitha Blue
Http://freshmommyblog.com
Freshmommy@me.com
The colors you used for the frosting are amazing! The cupcakes turned out beautifully! I featured this cute recipe in our blog post for "20 Amazing Recipes for St. Patrick's Day!" Here is the link if you would like to see your recipe: http://returntothetable.net/recipes/20-amazing-desserts-for-st-patricks-day/
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a LOT of frosting per cupcake, lol. These are great, Heather.
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful! My kids love all things rainbow! I also can't wait to try your sour cream cake! Thank you for sharing! I keep thinking of all the smiles I can create with these cupcakes!!!
ReplyDelete