If you’re looking for a video about how to frost cupcakes, it’s moved! Click here for our instructional post on How to Frost Cupcakes.
One of the most common questions we get is how to get the swirly cupcake icing. This is something I really wondered about, too, for a REALLY long time and honestly, I had a hard time finding clear instructions. It was almost like there was this code of secrecy among cupcake-eers. Well, I’m here to bust that code right open, not only because it makes your cupcakes impressive and professional-looking, but once you get the hang of it, it makes frosting cupcakes SO much easier and faster!
Also, I’m in no way affiliated with Wilton; I recommend their products only because they’re inexpensive, easy to find at “normal” stores, and widely available in most areas.
Here’s what you’ll need:
—A Wilton 1M star tip. The easiest is to grab this from Amazon! Although Walmart sells Wilton products, I haven’t been able to find this particular tip of the coupler that goes with it at Walmart; you can also try to go somewhere like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby.
As you can see, the 1M tip is significantly larger than a standard decorating tip:
—A large coupler that fits the 1M tip. These are the plastic rings that attach the tip to the bag.
—Cake decorating bags. Not an absolute must-have; you can use a heavy-duty Ziploc bag. But I really do love the disposable cake decorating bags.
Basically, you want to hold the bag at about a 45-degree angle with one hand (most likely your dominant hand) controlling the frosting flow near the top of the bag and your other hand down near the tip. With the tip nearly touching the surface of the cupcake (near the center), gently squeeze the bag. With the frosting consistently flowing, move the tip from the center of the cupcake to the edges and go all the way around and then back toward the middle.
Now…I had an entirely different post planned for today. And then on Monday night, I checked the Our Best Bites email and saw something about Sara’s candy corn pizza right before I went to sleep. As I was drifting away, I had this idea pop into my brain, clear as day, for Sara’s Colorburst Cupcakes, only made with candy corn colors! I frantically ran to the store the next morning and got a cake mix, a pot of yellow food gel (let’s not talk about what happened to the last one), and some full-fat sour cream because the non-fat yogurt I had in the fridge wasn’t going to cut it for these bad boys. In my frazzledness, I accidentally picked up a white cake mix instead of a vanilla cake mix, but I found this doctored-up recipe from Ann Byrn. I did replace the vanilla with almond extract on a whim and I didn’t regret it–they were mighty tasty.
Candy Corn Cupcakes
Mix about 1/2 heaping tsp. of yellow coloring into one bowl of batter and 1/2 heaping tsp. of orange coloring into the other bowl.
When ready, frost the cupcakes and garnish with a candy corn. When you cut them open, they look like this:
Candy Corn Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 18.25- oz. white cake mix I prefer Duncan Hines
- 1 c. sour cream
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- Yellow and orange Wilton food gel about a heaping 1/2 tsp. of each
- A double batch of Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling link in post
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 24-cup muffin tins with white paper liners (although you may not make it to 24 cupcakes). Combine all ingredients except for food coloring in a large bowl and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat on medium for 2 additional minutes.
- Divide batter equally into two bowls; you should have about 2 1/4-2 1/2 c. of batter in each bowl. Mix about 1/2 heaping tsp. of yellow coloring into one bowl of batter and 1/2 heaping tsp. of orange coloring into the other bowl.
- Divide the yellow batter evenly among the muffin tins. I used a standard cookie scoop, which measures about 1 Tbsp. I only had enough to make 20 cupcakes with the cups filled about halfway. Holding the edges of each pan firmly, bang the pan a few times on the counter to level out the batter. Repeat the process with the orange batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.When ready, frost the cupcakes and garnish with a candy corn.
Questions & Reviews
hi there! these are so cute and i want to make them for my son’s baseball team in their colors. however, i noticed that this recipe is different from sara’s colorburst cupcakes. in your experience, which one is better? also, could you just use vanilla cake mix instead of having to doctor up the white cake mix? thanks!
Honestly Kristen, they taste exactly the same to me! And you could use a vanilla mix as well, that works fine. It will affect your colors though because it adds a yellow tint to the original batter, so keep that in mind if you are coloring them.
Would love to see the video as well…
Video’s still missing…? I’d love to watch it again! Thanks.
Ahhhh! The video link is not working! I would love to watch it… please tell me this isn’t “user error”…
Video still not working 🙁 I did find the 1M tip at Michael’s today, though. I was surprised.
Hey girls! I am looking at this through your new blog site (yay!) and wanted to let you know that the video isnt working? It’s not even showing up on line screen. I hope this is just a transition problem, I cant wait to see the video!
My guess is that the server is still switching everything over, but if it’s still not working in a few days, I’ll pop it back in! Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
Jen–You certainly don't HAVE to do things the sour cream way, you can still make the cake mix according to the package directions. But the sour cream makes the cupcakes very moist and tender, kind of like a cupcake from an awesome bakery rather than from a box.
So, what does the sour cream do for the recipe? Can you just make the cupcakes as directed on the box and then just divide the batter & add color gel to each bowl?
Not sure why you can't use the regular box recipe?
Made these yesterday for our Halloween party. Hands down the best tasting and cutest cupcakes I've ever made. The frosting was amazing. Although I did have to make the milk/flour base 3 times before getting it right. The first two times I over cooked it and it got too thick, too fast.
I think there is a typo in your recipe, in the beginning where it says to use 2 24 cupcake pans, shouldn't it say 2 12 cupcake pans?
I had one pan come out with browned ugly bottoms and one pan came out with cute yellow bottoms. Both were darker non stick pans, but one was on the bottom rack and one on the top, that was the only difference. Must be the reason though.
Thanks for such a great recipe!
I made these this morning and they look perfect! You do need to lower the oven to 325 and I used vanilla as I didn't have almond extract. Thank you for sharing!
ugh! I wish I had read the part about tips to prevent the browning. boo!
absolutely! You can't taste the actual flavor of the yogurt, it just adds a subtle sweetness. Just use one that doesn't have chunks of fruit and you'll be good to go. I've used banana and vanilla before too with great results.
Would strawberry flavor work in the Candy corn cupcakes?? I think that would be interesting.
rikky- yogurt works great too. Plain or vanilla, or anything light colored. I just made cupcakes with strawberry yogurt and it tasted amazing!
I was just wondering what you could use in place of the sour cream??
This is an amazing post! Thank you so much for sharing, especially about the icing. It's my first time here, but am definitely coming back for more! 🙂
Love the colors you got on your cupcakes they are fantastic. I am featuring them on Thursday on Party Cupcake Ideas.
cggap25–My guess is that it's the pans; people seem to be having trouble with the dark pans that they don't with the silicone or the lighter pans. I'm sorry!
I was thinking of dropping a real piece of candy corn candy in the center of the cupcake before cooking and haveing it melt inside for flavor…anyone try this yet? make it fun when you bite into it?
I just made these cupcakes and I experienced the same issue with the cake on the outside (in the Wilton liners) looks brown so it is so not as cute as yours? I have NEW dark pans and I only cooked the cupcakes for 18 1/2 min. I am soooo disappointed! I was going to make your cupcake frosting but I am too bummed to do it with the way the cupcakes came out? Is anyone else having this problem???? HELP!
Love, love, love these! At my hubby's office, they have "Monday Munchies", and everyone takes turns bringing treats to work. Knowing his turn was coming up soon, I've been scouring the internet for days looking for the perfect fall/Halloween treat. These were perfect! I made mini-cupcakes. They turned out so cute, and they were a big hit! Thanks for sharing!
I am so glad to find this recipe. I used to have y'all bookmarked in my favorite blogs to read, but then my computer crashed and I lost them all!! I've been slowly trying to find my favorites again, but I just couldn't remember them all! Now I have you bookmarked again and ready to follow…I think we'll try out these cupcakes to take to school. My kids will love them!!! Although I may attempt mini cupcakes since kids usually throw most of it away anyway at school parties and I'll have 2 parties to bake for…wish me luck!
Hi! I came across these cupcakes and have been waiting a few months to make them! A couple of questions though…I notice that the recipe calls for 3 eggs…do you use the whole egg or just the egg white? Could this have anything do to with why some people are experiencing the yellow part being brown? And I got the Betty Crocker liners before I read the comments. Will I be disappointed with the results? 🙁 Thanks!
sbbennett- it's the small jars you want, known as gel coloring. The gel in the tubes isn't actually food coloring, it's just tinted gel you can decorate with, does that make sense? So ya, get the little jar/tub ones 🙂
do you mean the wilton icing colors in the small jars? i only saw those and the food gel in the tubes.
Love these seasonal recipes!
LOVE these!! I just made them, but used a different recipe I had… and mine don't look as vibrant. Next time I'll use this exact recipe! Your blog is amazing, with so many amazing recipes! I have added a link to these on my blog. I had seen them a few different places, but I wasn't sure who the original creator was. Now I know. Thanks for so many amazing ideas!
Thank You for this! My son is turing 1 in November, and we're having his birthday party on halloween weekend this year! I have been looking around trying to learn how to frost cupcakes because I think that my cake tastes better than a lot of the bakeries around where we're throwing the party! This is perfect! I also love the candy corn cupcake idea! I may do that too!!
http://www.stelladot.com/nicolejohnson
http://www.baseballwifeblog.com
Those are really cute!!!!!!
I'm so happy I found your site. Thank you for the tutorial. I'm actually baking cupcakes right now and I'll try frosting those cupcakes. Wish me luck!