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Home » Food » Dessert Recipes » Rainbow Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

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Rainbow Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

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My youngest daughter, Colby, turned 1 last week! It's beyond me how she is growing so fast and the whole baby stage is slowly coming to a close and will be behind me long before I'm ready for it to be over.

What fun would a birthday be without some cake? I wanted Colby to dig into her own birthday treat but wanted to save myself the work of baking two cakes, so I figured my best bet would be cupcakes.

Rainbow Cupcakes

Since it was just a small family celebration, we didn't do a big themed party with tons of decorations to celebrate. I didn't have any theme to help inspire me, I tried thinking up all of the fun cupcake ideas I could using a boxed cake mix. At last, inspired by the rainbow layer cake I made for my own birthday, I settled on making rainbow cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

While the rainbow layer cake was a labor of love, these rainbow cupcakes weren't nearly as labor intensive. Once again by making cupcakes from a cake mix, this saved me extra time, which I am always in short supply of.

Another fun thing about these cupcakes is that while I layered the different colors of cake batter, there was nothing to keep them separated so the result is almost tie-dye effect for something totally out of the ordinary!

Rainbow Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Rainbow Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

5 from 1 vote
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Rainbow Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword buttercream, cupcakes, dessert, frosting, rainbow
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 18
Calories 353 kcal

Ingredients

Rainbow Cupcakes:

  • 1 box white cake mix
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1.25 cup water
  • Wilton Gel Food Coloring

Buttercream Frosting:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
  • 4 Tbsp. milk
  • 4 tsp. clear vanilla extract
  • 4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then lightly spray or line cupcake pans and set aside.
  2. Mix cake mix, oil, water, and eggs together with electric mixer for approximately 2 minutes.
  3. As best as you can, try to evenly divide the batter amongst six, small bowls.
  4. Using a toothpick, use small amounts of Wilton gel food coloring at a time until you achieve your desired color.
  5. This is the tricky part. Once all batters are colored to your liking, begin evenly distributing your batter among the prepared cupcake pans.
  6. Continue dividing the batter in the order you want your rainbow to appear.
  7. Bake for 15-18 minutes and allow to cool completely.
  8. While cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting by mixing all ingredients together using an electric mixer.
  9. Frost your cupcakes as desired and served. I used a Wilton 5 tip on the cupcakes in the front of the picture and a Wilton 1M tip on the back cupcakes.
Nutrition Facts
Rainbow Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
Amount Per Serving
Calories 353 Calories from Fat 144
% Daily Value*
Fat 16g25%
Saturated Fat 7g35%
Cholesterol 54mg18%
Sodium 213mg9%
Potassium 35mg1%
Carbohydrates 50g17%
Sugar 38g42%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 360IU7%
Calcium 74mg7%
Iron 0.7mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Rainbow Cupcakes with Easy Buttercream Frosting
If you liked the idea of the rainbow layer cake but thought it might be a little too intimidating, I encourage you to give this recipe a try. It's unique, fun, and still leaves a lasting impression without taking hours in the kitchen to make. These rainbow cupcakes are perfect for birthdays or even your St. Patrick's Day celebration.

More cupcake recipes:

  • Rose Wine Cupcakes with Rose Wine Buttercream Frosting
  • Chocolate Cupcakes with Mexican Hot Chocolate Buttercream
  • Cadbury Chocolate Creme Eggs with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
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« Finding Great Presents for the Mom-to-Be
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Comments

  1. BusyWorkingMama says

    March 6, 2013 at 10:37 am

    Very cute and colorful! I bet the kids love them!

  2. Melissa Rheinlander says

    March 6, 2013 at 3:14 pm

    Those looks so Good!!

  3. Henrietta says

    March 6, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    they are beautiful!

  4. Jennifer The Quirky Momma says

    March 6, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    I love the vibrant colors! What a great cupcake!

  5. Kait says

    March 6, 2013 at 5:30 pm

    How fun! Definitely will try these for my stepdaughter’s birthday!

  6. Katie says

    March 6, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    so bright & colorful!

  7. Sarah says

    March 7, 2013 at 10:15 am

    Very cute! My kids would love these!

  8. Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies says

    March 7, 2013 at 2:49 pm

    Happy Birthday to Cupcake! These turned out so pretty and vibrant–what a great idea!

  9. Jennifer H says

    March 8, 2013 at 8:51 am

    this is awesome!! great job.

  10. Anne - Mommy Has to Work says

    March 8, 2013 at 12:26 pm

    I just added this to my favorites!! These look so fun!

  11. Nichol says

    March 8, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    1 already! Happy birthday to her. These are so pretty and fun!

  12. Kelly-ann says

    March 9, 2013 at 9:10 am

    omg! that looks so delicious! 🙂
    best wishes to her

  13. Jennifer says

    March 9, 2013 at 12:48 pm

    I’ve made rainbow cupcakes before. They are so much and always a big hit

  14. The Working Momaholic says

    March 9, 2013 at 6:34 pm

    Happy birthday, little one!! Very cute! And they look delicious 🙂

  15. JulieD says

    March 10, 2013 at 12:44 am

    so cute!!

  16. April Golightly says

    March 10, 2013 at 5:49 am

    These look awesome!

  17. Mel {MamaBuzz} says

    March 10, 2013 at 11:35 am

    So colorful and fun! Thanks for sharing on Inspire Me Wednesday!

  18. HilLesha @To the Motherhood says

    March 10, 2013 at 4:24 pm

    So cute!

  19. Anne says

    March 10, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    These are adorable, I love the bright colors

  20. debra pearlstein says

    March 10, 2013 at 8:04 pm

    Happy Birthday! These are so pretty and look delicious!

  21. Penelope says

    March 11, 2013 at 10:40 am

    This looks beautiful, I love it! My son would have a blast making this with me, and it looks so yummy too!

  22. Notorious Spinks says

    March 11, 2013 at 11:36 am

    This cupcake looks awesome. I would love to taste it.

  23. Laura says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:34 pm

    Those are so pretty!

  24. trisha says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:34 pm

    I love how bright these are too!! wow!!

    trisha

  25. Katrina says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    I made these for my daughters first birthday too 🙂 Super fun and easy.

  26. Elizabeth A. says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    OMG that looks so cool! I love how you got all of those colors in there. I bet kids would go crazy for them.

  27. Emily says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    I’ve always wanted to do rainbow cupcakes or cake. These look so good!

  28. Tiff @ Babes and Kids says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    Those are almost too beautiful to eat! They turned out perfect!

  29. MommyJenna says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    YUMMY! We’ve done these before and of course, it’s a big hit

  30. Stephanie says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    Yum! these look delicious and fun!!

  31. Mumseword says

    March 19, 2013 at 9:28 pm

    ohhhh so pretty and so fun looking!

  32. Foz says

    March 22, 2013 at 6:15 am

    These look fab!! Must try them with my daughter one day!

  33. Sheilacakes says

    March 23, 2013 at 3:38 pm

    Noah keeps talking about making cupcakes using all the colors. This would be perfect to try. I told him they would be black lol.

  34. Tina says

    March 30, 2013 at 7:59 pm

    I love how pretty and bright the colors are. so neat

  35. Rachel says

    August 8, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    I love them. And the color is amazing.

    Happy Birthday to Cupcake!

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Kelly here - product of the 80s, lover of queso, former Air Force brat, football fan (Hook 'em Horns!), dog lover, chicken farmer, wife, and girl mom living in Austin, Texas!

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