Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream and DIY Candy Heart Toppers

Consider these cupcakes party-ready with their colorful frosting and confetti sprinkles. Candy necklaces can be fashioned into pretty heart-shaped cupcake toppers using this quick tutorial.

Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I once asked my friend what kind of cupcakes she wanted for her birthday and she replied “I’m boring, I like yellow cake with vanilla frosting.” I think I may have scared her because I got really excited and maybe shouted “I’m boring too! We can be boring together!”

What I meant to say was “I like yellow cake with vanilla frosting also and I’m going to make us a batch right now.”

Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I hadn’t planned a blog post for today, but yesterday morning I started craving yellow cupcakes. I whipped up a batch and decided to tint vanilla buttercream a rainbow of pastel colors. I think we all could use some happy colors to look at right now, don’t you?

I had a box of candy necklaces hanging around (which is normal business here) so I started thinking of ways to use them to decorate the cupcakes. I thought about using the individual beads as sprinkles, but I soon found they’re prettiest all strung together.

I ended up making some super cute candy heart cupcake toppers with the necklaces. They are so easy! I think kiddos would love to get involved, especially with stringing the beads together.

Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

You’ll need coated wire for this project, around 30-50 gauge will be heavy enough to hold up the heart shape. I used some coated florist’s wire, but these white paper-covered wires are even better, because they are made for use with edibles (sugar paste flowers).

You’ll need one candy necklace per topper. Cut a 12-inch length of wire. Leave the candy necklace beads on the string while you thread about 3/4 of the beads onto the wire. Bend the beaded wire into a heart shape. When it looks like a heart, twist the two ends of the wire together. Cut the string and pull it away (eat the extra candy beads or save them for later). Trim away the excess wire. Use filament tape to cover the wire completely. You’re done!

Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

These cupcakes are simple and classic – and definitely not boring! The cake recipe is soft and fluffy with a slight tang from the sour cream in the batter. This recipe makes about one dozen, which is nice when I don’t have a large crowd to feed. If you need more than one dozen, the recipe doubles well.

Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Heather Baird
These cupcakes are simple and classic. The cake recipe is soft and fluffy with a slight tang from the sour cream in the batter. See the blog post for instructions for the candy necklace toppers.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

Yellow cupcakes

  • 1 1/4 cups 150g all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup 113g unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup 150g granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup 4 oz. milk
  • 6 tablespoons 85g sour cream

Vanilla buttercream

  • 1 cup/226g unsalted butter softened
  • 2 1/2 -3 cups/320 to 384g confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Milk or heavy cream
  • Pastel food colors assorted
  • Confetti sprinkles

Instructions
 

  • Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Place paper liners in the cavities of a standard size cupcake tin.
  • Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Scrape down the edges of the bowl and mix again. In a glass measure with a pour spout, combine the milk and sour cream.
  • Beat in the flour mixture on low speed alternately with the milk mixture; begin and end with flour. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full of the batter. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when pressed in the centers. Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
  • Make the frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the butter and confectioners’ sugar. Begin on low speed until crumbly, and then increase to high and beat for 3 minutes.
  • Add vanilla extract and beat again for another minute. If you find the buttercream is too stiff, you may add milk or heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture is spreading consistency.
  • Divide the frosting into separate bowls and tint as desired. Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large French decorator tip and pipe frosting onto the cupcakes. Immediately top with sprinkles if desired.
Keyword american buttercream, candy necklaces, yellow cake
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Unknown
Unknown
7 years ago

Awesome idea for toppers. Pinned!

Anonymous
Anonymous
7 years ago

Very pretty. Love it.

Roshini
Roshini
7 years ago

Lovely and perfectly timed for valentines day 😉

Julia @ HappyFoods Tube
Julia @ HappyFoods Tube
7 years ago

Wow! I like these! Who would have thought you can use candy necklaces as heart cupcake toppers. And those beautiful colors! 🙂

Natalie
Natalie
7 years ago

Absolutely stunning!

Nastaha
Nastaha
7 years ago

OMG .. so beautifully decorated cupcakes , I must say u are truly amazing .

Natasha
http://www.cakecentral.co.in

Brittney @BrunetteLovesBrownies
Brittney @BrunetteLovesBrownies
7 years ago

These are adorable! I love the pastel as an alternative to all of the chocolate recipes we see this time of year! They remind me of conversation hearts, but these cupcakes are much tastier than the chalky candies I'm sure.

Unknown
Unknown
7 years ago

AMAZING!!!!!! i love this

Unknown
Unknown
7 years ago

so adorable!

Hellen
Hellen
7 years ago

Hello, I'm a housewife from Russia)) can I ask you, I made the cupcakes according to your recipe, they taste wonderful, but for some reason the dough did not rise, what did I do wrong? I just kept all of the grams) And 1/2 Cup of milk is how much in milliliters or grams?)

Hellen
Hellen
7 years ago

I want to try all your recipes, but every time something goes wrong, maybe because we have other products?(

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
7 years ago
Reply to  Hellen

Hi Hellen! I'm sorry the recipes didn't work for you. It's possible that there are differences in ingredients. We use double acting baking powder here in the states, and I wonder if this could be the problem. It's hard to say. I've re-checked the gram measurements and they all seem to be correct. (1/2 cup is 120 ml) It could also be a difference in sour cream. Russian sour cream (smetana, I believe?) is different than what we use in the US. I have no experience using it in baking, but according to some websites I've read, it has different… Read more »

Hellen
Hellen
7 years ago

I thought so!)) Yes, we probably need to add soda, and the sour cream(that's right;)) not the same…they still turned out delicious) thank you for the quick reply)

Unknown
Unknown
3 years ago

I am going to try these cupcakes.
I have baked the vanilla cherry cake very delicious
I love baking.