Hawaiian Funfetti Cupcakes

Last weekend was my niece's 5th birthday.  She asked for an erupting volcano cake and some cupcakes.  I have never had so much fun baking in the kitchen!  I turned a basic vanilla cupcake into a funfetti cupcake that baked up with perfect little dome tops.  Then I added a super easy buttercream rainbow frosting, and put some toothpick toys on top.  I was very pleased with how they turned out.  Stay tuned for the volcano cake!

Here's the ingredients you will need:

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla and almond extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk in three additions.  Start and end with the flour mixture.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sprinkles.

Evenly fill twelve muffin cups with the batter.  Bake at 350 F for 18-20 minutes.

Here's what the cupcakes look like when they are finished.

My mom bought me this cute cupcake stand to display cupcakes or candy, and it looked great!

Here's the recipe:

Funfetti Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles

1 recipe vanilla buttercream frosting

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.  Set pan aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides and beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla extract and almond extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the sprinkles and stir.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in pan 5 minutes.  Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Prepare frosting.  Decorate cooled cupcakes as desired.

Source:  The Kitch

Easy Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients:20 tbsp. (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. heavy cream  
Directions: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.  Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds.  Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds.  Scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds.  Then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.  
Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles, originally from Cook’s Illustrated, April 2007

*Special Note: If you would like to make rainbow swirl frosting, separate the frosting into four separate bowls.  Make a light blue, light green, yellow, and pink.  Layer the frosting into whatever you are using to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.