These colorful Funfetti Cupcakes topped with heavenly vanilla mascarpone frosting are the best birthday cupcakes and will surely brighten up anyone's day!
Now and then, everyone loves a bit of sprinkles to brighten up their day 🙂 I love baking and decorating with rainbow sprinkles, they're super fun and make everything a 100 times prettier. These fluffy Funfetti Cupcakes are loaded with colorful sprinkles, inside and out! They make the ultimate birthday cupcakes or holiday treats that kids and adults will equally love and enjoy!
These cupcakes are made with a basic vanilla cupcake sponge dotted with rainbow sprinkles and are then topped with a simple vanilla mascarpone frosting and even more sprinkles! The frosting is a twist on the classic vanilla buttercream and is super rich and fluffy. Nothing screams fun and happiness louder than these colorful confetti cupcakes.
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Ingredients and Variations
For the vanilla cupcake sponge, you will need a few simple ingredients:
Flour - Cake flour works perfectly for cupcake sponge. Ideally, weigh your ingredients using digital kitchen scales (rather than using cups). You can also use all purpose flour if cake flour is not available.
Salt - Just a pinch to balance the sweetness of these cupcakes.
Baking Powder - Leavening agent.
Butter - Use unsalted butter softened at room temperature.
Milk - You can use either semi-skimmed or whole milk for these cupcakes.
Sugar - Granulated sugar works fine here. I decreased the amount of sugar slightly for these cupcakes and funfetti/sprinkles contain sugar and would compensate for the sweetness.
Vanilla Extract - Use good quality vanilla extract to really bring out the amazing vanilla base flavor for this funfetti cupcake recipe.
Egg - You will need 1 medium sized egg to bind the sponge and provide texture.
Funfetti - Use your favourite funfetti or sprinkles (or confetti!), as long as they are bake-safe (meaning they would not loose their color/bleed in the batter). My favourites to use for baking are sequins (or quins) or vermicelli type sprinkles.
For the mascarpone frosting, you will need:
Mascarpone - Bring the mascarpone out to room temperature for not more than 5 minutes before using.
Heavy Cream - or fresh/whipping cream.
Powdered Sugar - Or icing sugar
Vanilla Extract - Use good quality vanilla extract for the best vanilla flavor.
Funfetti - Use your favourite sprinkles for the topping. This time, they don't need to be bake-safe as these do not need to go into the oven.
How to Make Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes
- Make & Bake the Cupcake Sponge
Preheat your oven and line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
Sift and mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) in a medium bowl and set aside.
Cream softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until pale and fluffy. Use a spatula to scrape any ingredients from the sides of the bowl.
Add vanilla extract and egg and mix well (1-2 mins).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with milk in two additions and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
Fold in bake-safe sprinkles.
Divide the cupcake batter between 10 cupcake liners, filling up to ¾ of the way.
Bake for 18-23 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cupcakes should be golden brown at the top.
Allow to cool in muffin tray for 5-10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting them. - Make the Vanilla Mascarpone Frosting
Beat mascarpone in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment for a few seconds and set aside.
Place heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and mix until soft peaks form.
Once soft peaks form, add mascarpone and mix for a few seconds until the mixture is combined and stiff peaks form.
Store vanilla mascarpone in refrigerator until using. Only frost the cupcakes when they are completely cooled (otherwise the frosting may start to melt). - Frost Cupcakes & Sprinkle with Funfetti!
Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, transfer mascarpone frosting into a piping bag fitted with your preferred frosting tip.
Frost cupcakes and top with extra sprinkles.
Store in a refrigerator until serving. Keep any leftover cupcakes chilled.
Tips for the Perfect Funfetti Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven before baking the cupcake sponge.
- The secret for fluffy cupcakes is to avoid overmixing the batter once you add dry ingredients.
- Use bake-safe sprinkles for the sponge - avoid using nonpareils (round and tiny sprinkles) as they will bleed into the batter and you would loose all the lovely colors.
- Fill cupcake liners ¾ of the way - do not overfill these!
- Make sure the cupcakes have cooled down completely before frosting them.
- Do not over-whisk the frosting, or it will turn grainy.
- If making frosting ahead, store it in the refrigerator until it's time to use it.
FAQs
If not serving immediately, refrigerate these mascarpone funfetti cupcakes in an airtight container for 3 to 5 days.
Yes. These cupcakes are great to make ahead, as long as you store them in a refrigerator.
You can also prepare and bake the cupcake sponge ahead and then apply frosting right before serving.
The mascarpone frosting tends to solidify once refrigerated, thereby ensuring that the frosting will hold its shape beautifully.
The mascarpone frosting can be made 1 day ahead and chilled. You may need to whip up the frosting slightly before piping it if it becomes stiff.
Any food product containing mascarpone needs to be refrigerated immediately after preparing. Mascarpone has a very high fat content and is prone to splitting easily and become runny at room temperature, especially in warmer temperatures.
Use mascarpone straight from the fridge or after leaving it at room temperature for not more than 2-5 minutes.
For best results, use bake-safe sprinkles for the cupcake sponge. Sprinkles or funfetti which are not bake-safe may "bleed" during baking and will loose their color after some time. Avoid using non-pareils (the little ball type) as they tend to lose their color the most.
My personal favourites when baking are "vermicelli" (long and thin) type sprinkles and bake-safe quins. Quins do tend to remain slightly crunchy after baking, so if you're ok with that, these will be so eye-catching, especially for kids.
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Ingredients
Funfetti Cupcakes
- 180 g cake flour (1½ cups)
- 1½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 112 g unsalted butter softened (½ cup)
- 150 g granulated sugar (¾ cups)
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 medium-sized egg
- 160 mL milk (⅔ cup) semi-skimmed or whole
- 60 g funfetti/sprinkles (⅓ cup) bake-safe sprinkles
Mascarpone Frosting
- 225 g mascarpone cheese (8 oz.)
- 250 mL heavy cream (1 cup)
- 100 g powdered sugar (¾ cup)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. funfetti/sprinkles
Instructions
Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (350F). Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
- In a medium-sized bowl, sift and mix flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.
- Place softened butter in a large bowl of a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment. Add granulated sugar and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Use a spatula to scrape any ingredients from the side of the bowl.
- Add vanilla extract and egg and beat for another 2 minutes until creamy.
- Add dry ingredients alternating with milk in two additions. Mix with a spatula after each addition until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Fold in sprinkles using a spatula.
- Spoon batter into muffin liners, filling up to ¾ full. Bake for 18-24 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in cupcake tin for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Mascarpone Frosting
- Place mascarpone in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds and set aside.
- Place powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with this whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
- Add mascarpone and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute until ingredients are combined and stiff peaks form. Do not overmix or the frosting will become grainy.
- Store mascarpone frosting in refrigerator until ready to frost cupcakes.
- To frost cupcakes, transfer frosting to piping bag fitted with a frosting tip and pipe over cooled cupcakes. Top with extra sprinkles and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
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