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
Description
These fun and festive fall cupcakes are delicious, and so much easier than they look!
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 Kate,
These cupcakes are so cute. I am planning to make these for my son’s
first halloween! How do I make the cupcakes eggless?
These are so fun! I put my cake batter into 1-quart Ziploc bags and cut a corner to make it easier to keep the batter under control when I was filling the cupcake liner. It worked out very well and was not messy.
It’s so cool you can make all those cupcakes 😀 can u put up a recipe to make cupcakes will gummy bears? Please 🙂 I love gummy bears and gummies in general too. [:^>
Love these. We are making these for my sons Halloween party at school tomorrow!
What does the sour cream do to the cupcakes? I’ve never heard of that before.
I dunno how you came up with this idea but I just want to say how awesome it was! I love that it was simple and so creative for this halloween party I have tonight! I had to use a white cake mix from scratch because my neurotic baking side would not allow me to use a box ha ha but I had to wilton gel colors and now I cannot wait to decorate it! Awesome idea! Thanks.
Found your recipe via pinterest and have them baking right now. Not sure if I overfilled my liners or what but I only got 12 cupcakes and then 2 larger cupcakes. The batter seemed really thick so am wondering if I did something wrong.
These look amazing! I know you probably don’t do linky parties, but if you do, I’d love it if you linked this candy corn project to my Candy Corn Roundup post.
There is no link for the video?? 🙁
I love the candy corn cupcakes – so cute! I’m almost getting ready for fall and plan on making lots of these for Halloween gifts for friends. Thanks!
I love the 2 tone look and will try it on some cupcakes I have to make today!
As a former baker a few helpful hints when frosting with a large tip. I know its long, but I figure if we’re sharing the bakers secrets to cupcake frosting, we better be thorough…
1. Make sure the icing isn’t too warm. If it is (or if your hands tend to run warm and are warming the icing on you) it will come out droopy and melted looking. The trick is to touch the icing as little as possible until you are ready to start piping the cupcakes. If you start having this problem, simply put the icing in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes to cool it down and start again. Make sure your cupcakes are cooled as well. If your cupcakes are still warm when you start piping, it doesnt matter how cool your icing starts, its going to melt. (Frozen cupcakes are actually awesome. The icing doesnt melt and the cupcake itself stays moist instead of getting aired out and stale while waiting for them to cool)
2. You get more control the closer your hand is to the tip. Fill the bag about halfway with icing. Then, hold the bag between your thumb and forefinger so the tip rests just passed your pinky. Squeeze your thumb and pointer together to section this bit of icing off from the rest of the bag and twist two or three times so you have a grip on just the icing closest to the tip. This will help you control the bag better and you wont have to squeeze as hard to get the icing out. when you need more just simple push the icing down from the back of the bag to the tip again (make sure you twist the back of the bag as well to keep the icing from falling out, and hold it upright with your free hand… as you get more experienced you can make the amount of icing in your hand larger and you’ll still have decent control. its all about practice). Another reason this tip is helpful: it will keep you from bursting your bag along the seam/keep the tip from popping out. You wont need to create as much pressure and you also dont have to continuously refill the bag. If you do burst the bag, simply cut the tip out (if it wasnt the part that popped out), cut a piping tip hole in a new bag and place the tip in, and then put the old bag inside the new one and squeeze int he contents. You’ll lose a bit of icing to the outside ofthe old bag, but its a lot less messy than trying to scoop from the back or putting it back in a bowl to fill the new bag.
3. Less is more with frosting with this kind of tip. You dont want the icing to go passed the outer edge of the cupcake so its really about piling the icing up. You dont want the tip to touch the icing below as this will cause the icing to spread outward. Just pile it up with two circles and pull up at to finish (dont squeeze while pulling up…you’re frosting cupcakes, not making soft-serve ice cream cones).
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Is there anywhere else we can get the video?? I’d love to make my flat cupcakes cute!
I did something like this for my nieghborhood Trunk or Treat! Except I did it with all three colors and then topped with icing/frosting and sprinkles! I even found I am turning pro with the icing/frosting bag. They turned out way cute and yummy! There were a few left over at the end of the night, but I took them home and they were gone the next morning! I got alot of compliments!
Now if only I could learn a YUMMY icing/frosting recipe!
I might blog about them soon…if you wan to check out my blog!
I saw the pic of your cupcakes on pinterest and I made them last week. SO good!! Im actually featuring your recipe on my blog right now with a link to you blog. Thank you!!
It was a blast at my son’s football banquet.
I was hoping to make mini cupcakes as I “think” they would go further, plus I’m bringing them to a party Saturday, my question is how many (in your expert opinion) would I get if I make them mini size? Oh and would I still need to make a double batch of frosting?
I’m loving your blog!
Video still not working, but your instructions are great!!! Wish me luck!
Is there anywhere else we can view the video? I would REALLY love to make these on Saturday for the Oktober Fest. These look so perfect!
Do you have a link for the video? I can’t see it here and I don’t think it is working. These cupcakes look awesome, but I want to make sure I make them right! 🙂
These are adorable!! 🙂 I wish the video was working for the icing tip though. By the way, have you ever made these in mini cupcake form? If so, how long did you bake them? Thanks! 🙂
Video not working : ( these would be cute for the preschool kids at the church I work for! Thanks for sharing! Will check back for the video…Blessings, Sharon
These are so adorable and I want to make them for our fall festival at my church. The only thing is I have to individually wrap the cupcakes. Will this frosting harden so I can do this without them getting extremely messy when they unwrap it?
No Heather, this frosting will stay very soft!
I also want to see the video! I just got my cupcake tip yesterday for my son’s birthday next week and I am really nervous about messing up with the frosting. Any chance of the video coming up again?
This is super helpful — I’ve always wondered how to make the cupcakes look so good, and never realized it takes such a large tip. But I really, really hope you’ll fix the video on here. That always helps a ton to see someone actually doing it!
Thank you for your wonderful site!
Love your site! I am hoping to frost cupcakes this week, but the video is not loading. Help! Thanks!
I would love to be able to see the video, but it looks like it’s been missing for a while… Any chance it will be back soon?