Rainbow Cupcakes Recipe with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Rainbow cupcakes: Colorful cake batter is layered in a rainbow pattern and baked to perfection. Then it’s topped with fluffy whipped cream cheese frosting, rainbow candy belts, and mini marshmallows for a jaw dropping treat perfect for any occasion.

We’ll show you how to make rainbow cupcakes that you’ll want to make over and over again – whether it’s for a birthday party, St. Patrick’s Day, or just for fun. You can’t go wrong with these happy treats.

What Makes Rainbow Cupcakes So Much Fun

• Your favorite soft cake with a tangy sweet frosting and sour candy topper hits all your tastebuds.
• With six layers of rainbow colored cake in each cupcake, they’re a stunning addition to your party buffet
• Rainbow cupcakes are so adaptable, they aren’t just for St. Patrick’s Day. Whether you change them up to make pastel rainbow cupcakes or alternate layers of your two favorite colors, you can use this technique to create a unique treat that reflects your personality.

How to Make Rainbow Cupcakes (Step by Step Directions):

To make things even easier for you, I created a simple photo guide below. For all measurements and a more detailed guide, check out the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Make the Cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Prepare your cake mix with water, oil, and eggs according to the directions on your box.

Divide the cake batter evenly between 6 bowls – you should have about 3/4 cup cake batter in each bowl.

Add gel food coloring to your cake batter, dying each bowl of batter one of the colors of the rainbow: one bowl red, one orange, one yellow, one green, one blue, and one purple. Make sure to stir the batter well to incorporate the food coloring. Add more food coloring if necessary.

Pour your red cake batter into a piping bag, using a spoon or small spatula to get as much of the cake batter as possible into the bag. Use a twist tie or bag clip to close the top of the bag and set aside.

Repeat with each of the remaining colors of cake batter.

Snip a very small tip from your purple batter piping bag (no more than 1/4 inch) and pipe a thin layer of batter into the cupcake liners.

Repeat with the remaining colors in the following order: blue, green, yellow, orange, red.

Bake the cupcakes according to the box directions and allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Make the Frosting

Cut softened cream cheese into cubes and place in a large mixing bowl with 2 cups powdered sugar.

Beat with a mixer until smooth and creamy. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix to combine. Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream with a mixer using the whisk attachment.

Continue beating the cream until it is doubled in size and soft peaks form.

Add the whipped cream to the bowl with the cream cheese mixture and gently fold together with a spatula.

Decorate the Cupcakes

Using a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen shears, trim the Airheads candies to about 5-6 inches long. (About an inch trimmed off each candy.)

Transfer your frosting to a piping bag prepared with your favorite frosting tip and pipe a large swirl of frosting onto each of your cupcakes.

Gently fold the rainbow candies and press the ends into your cupcake frosting to create a rainbow arch.

Place 3 miniature marshmallows on each side of your rainbow.

Essential Tips:

Don’t skip these tips – read them before baking to avoid any potential mistakes.

Pipe Your Batter To Get Six Even Rainbow Layers:

Using a piping bag to create thin layers of batter is the key to making your rainbow cupcakes. This way you can get all six layers in each cupcake, and the cupcake liners won’t be overfilled.

I found it easiest to start out by piping a thin ring of batter around the edge of the cupcake liner. Then I quickly filled in the center and gently tapped the pan on the counter to make it level.

Don’t Over Bake Your Cupcakes

Each box mix is going to have different bake times for cupcakes, so make sure to check the back of the box. Then check your cupcakes at the earliest time indicated.

Test your cupcakes with a toothpick in the center, once they’ve risen and no longer jiggle when you move the pan. If your toothpick doesn’t come out clean, check again in another 1-2 minutes. Don’t wait too long between checking, otherwise your pretty red cupcake tops could turn brown.

Make Sure Your Cupcakes are Completely Cool Before Decorating

Any warmth left in the cupcakes will make your frosting melt into a sad, sloppy mess.

For best results, cool your cupcakes in the pan for 5-10 minutes after removing them from the oven, then remove to a cooling rack for another 30 – 45 minutes.

If your cupcakes feel warm at all after 30 minutes, either allow them to cool on the rack, or you can put them in the refrigerator and check them after 10 minutes.

More Tips for making Rainbow Cupcakes:

• White cupcake liners work really well for these cupcakes because they let the different layer colors show through.
• Don’t worry about making sure you have completely even quantities of batter in your six bowls. The easiest way to measure out your batter is to use a 1/4 cup measure to spoon batter into each of the bowls, repeating until all the batter is gone. If you have a little extra, simply do your best to drizzle it between the bowls. A little extra of one color won’t make a big difference.
• Use gel food coloring for the best results. Liquid food coloring is less concentrated than gel food coloring and can water down your batter. Gel food coloring also gives a bright hue with less added food coloring. (We used a combination of this set and this set for these cupcakes.)
• If you don’t have piping bags, you can also use gallon sized ziplock bags for piping your batter and frosting.

Adaptations and Substitutions:

• Box Cake Mix – If you have a preferred white cake recipe from scratch, feel free to use it. Just make sure whatever recipe you use, it doesn’t have a color or hue to the cake, otherwise your rainbow colors may be off.
• Pastel Rainbow Colors – Grab the pastel gel food colors to create a rainbow cupcake in softer hues. (This would be perfect for a boho party or baby shower!)
• Frosting – Looking for a lighter frosting? You can also use a basic whipped cream frosting, marshmallow whipped cream, or canned white frosting if you prefer.

FAQs:

Why won’t my rainbows stay upright?

We tested both Airheads Extreme and Zweet Rainbow Candy belts, and found that Airheads are less likely to collapse. However, if you find the Airheads rainbow candies are still sagging, you can try the following:

1. Make sure your rainbow isn’t too long. Trim it down by a 1/4 inch or so and try again.
2. If you’ve gotten to the point you feel like it’s going to be too short with another trim, you can place the candies in the refrigerator for 5 minutes. This should help firm them up so they stay upright.
3. If that doesn’t work for you, you can always add a bit of frosting underneath to hold the rainbow upright.

Which style piping tip did you use?

You can use whichever piping point you prefer. The pictures here are with a large open star, but you can use a large French tip, or a large round tip too.

How to Make Rainbow Cupcakes Ahead and Store

Store unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. Frosting and decorated cupcakes should be kept refrigerated in an airtight container.

For best results:

Prepare your cupcakes and frosting up to 3 days in advance, but wait to decorate your cupcakes until the day of the party.

Pro Tip: Use a ramekin or a second muffin tin to make an extra cupcake so you can practice decorating before the day of the party.

To freeze:

You can freeze unfrosted cupcakes in a sturdy closed container (we like this one) for up to three months.

I don’t recommend freezing the whipped cream cheese frosting, as it doesn’t defrost well. If you prefer to freeze frosted cupcakes, you may want to opt for buttercream frosting instead.

If you liked my rainbow cupcakes recipe, you’re going to love my candy striped cake. It’s so gorgeous, your guests will never know that it was once a store bought cake!

Or you can check out my other cakes and cupcakes recipes here.

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