Confetti Cupcakes (for a baby shower)

Whenever there’s good news swirling around in my life, I get so excited. While I know I’ve never met many bloggers, I still consider a few of them that I “know” online as friends. When my friend, Krystal, announced her pregnancy, I was so happy for her. She already has the most adorable daughter (seriously…every time I see a baby picture on Instagram, I get a TEENY bit of baby fever), and I know she’s going to be such a great big sister. Krystal is sweetly referring to baby #2 as “cupcake”, so with that in mind, Eva of Eva Bakes had the idea to throw Krystal a cupcake virtual baby shower!

My contribution are a childhood favorite of mine: funfetti. My Mom used to make funfetti cupcakes all the time. I love the color bursts from the sprinkles, and the almond-y, butter-y flavor is just awesome! I found this recipe on Sweetapolita’s blog, and I think it’s even better than the boxed stuff. I never thought I’d say that, since I LOVE boxed mix funfetti (judge away), but oh gosh…this is a goodie.

Congratulations Krystal on your bundle of joy! I can’t wait to see pictures of the little one!

Check out the great cupcakes that other bloggers are sharing for her shower!

Funfetti Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Frosting
Source: Sweetapolita

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 whole egg, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 2 3/4 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup Rainbow Jimmies

For the frosting:

• 3 sticks + 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• sprinkles for decorating

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two cupcake pans by lining them with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, add the eggs, 1/4 cup of the milk and the vanilla & almond extracts. Whisk the mixture well and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt on low speed for 30 seconds.
4. Add the butter cubes to the dry mixture, and mix on low speed for 30 more seconds. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of milk and mix everything on low speed until the mixture is just moistened. Then, turn the mixer up to medium speed, and mix everything for 1 1/2 minutes.
5. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and then add 1/3 of the egg/milk mixture. Beat on medium speed for 20 seconds, and repeat with adding another 1/3 of the egg/milk mixture and mix for 20 seconds again, doing the same thing one last time with the remaining 1/3 of the mixture. Gently fold in the rainbow jimmies, until well incorporated throughout the batter.
6. Scoop the batter into the lined cupcake pans (filling 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cupcakes.
7. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
8. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix the butter for 8 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add in the confectioners sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt, mixing on low speed for one minute. Then, turn the mixer up to medium, and fluff the mixture for 6 minutes.
9. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, frost the cupcakes generously with the vanilla frosting, and add sprinkles for decorating.