Cotton Candy Cupcake Recipe

Cotton Candy Cupcake Recipe

These Cotton Candy Cupcakes, with their moist, delicious cake and sweet cotton candy frosting, have all the awesome flavor of real cotton candy in a fun cupcake form.

Course Dessert, Sweets

Cuisine American

Keyword cotton candy cupcake recipe, cotton candy cupcakes

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Servings

Calories 224kcal

Equipment

Cupcake liners
2 Muffin tins
Mixing bowls
1 Stand mixer Either a stand mixer or hand mixer will work
1 Hand mixer
4 Piping bags
1 Piping tip

Ingredients

For The Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix 15.25 ounce size
1 box white cheesecake pudding 3.3 ounce size
1 1/4 cups water
4 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream

For The Frosting

3/4 cup salted butter softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
LorAnn Cotton Candy Flavoring
3-4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon sour cream
pink gel food coloring
blue gel food coloring
white edible glitter
cotton candy for garnish optional

Instructions

For the cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Combine cake and pudding mixes in a large bowl.
1 box white cake mix, 1 box white cheesecake pudding
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed, mix the water, egg whites, oil, and sour cream into the dry ingredients until well incorporated.
1 1/4 cups water, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 4 egg whites, 1/2 cup sour cream
Divide batter evenly between 2 mixing bowls.
Put pink food coloring in one bowl and the blue in the other. Alternate adding the colored batter into the muffin cups until each is about 2/3 full.
pink gel food coloring, blue gel food coloring
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely to room temperature before adding the frosting.

For the frosting

In a large mixing bowl, using a hand or stand mixer, cream butter for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
3/4 cup salted butter
Mix in the vanilla extract and cotton candy flavoring.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, LorAnn Cotton Candy Flavoring
Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of the half and half and a teaspoon of the sour cream. Continue to mix until the frosting is creamy and forms stiff peaks.
3-4 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons heavy cream, 1/2 tablespoon sour cream
Divide the frosting evenly into 3 small bowls. Add the blue food coloring to one bowl and the pink to another, 1 drop at a time, mixing until the desired color is achieved. Leave the third bowl without color.
pink gel food coloring, blue gel food coloring
Add each frosting color to its own small piping bag. Cut the tips off the smaller bags and then insert them into a large piping bag with frosting tip.
Before frosting the cupcakes, squeeze some frosting onto a plate until you see all three colors come out. Now you’re ready to frost the cupcakes.
Garnish with edible glitter and cotton candy if desired. Enjoy!
white edible glitter, cotton candy for garnish

Notes

Go easy on the cotton candy flavoring, adding just a little at a time. It’s very strong so start with just one or two drops and then gradually add more as needed.

Nutrition