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.

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

5 from 2 votes

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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

Author Live Love Texas

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.

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