Funfetti Cupcakes

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

My passion for rainbows draws me to colorful foods.  I think I found these on foodgawker.com a while back, and they are so, so cute.  Who knew that simple nonpareils could turn a simple vanilla cupcake into a rainbow treat for the eyes?   Well, I guess Jessica of How Sweet It Is did. 

I like this recipe not only for the sprinkles, but also because it's a recipe that makes only 12 cupcakes.  These cupcakes are quite a bit more dense than the ones you make from a box, but they're moist, tender, and tasty.  Worth the extra effort, for sure.  And if you're wondering if they have a crunchy texture due to the nonpareils, they don't.  The sprinkles melt into the cupcake leaving just the color.
You'll see in the pics that I have some round and some heart-shaped cupcakes.  I couldn't really figure out a cute way to frost the heart-shaped cupcakes, so I only have unfrosted pics of those.  If anyone has suggestions on how to frost heart-shaped cupcakes beautifully, please share your insight.  Frosting is not one of my strong suits.

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

        --adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon King Arthur Flour Cake Enhancer (optional)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup rainbow nonpareils+ more for top of frosting

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients. Fold in assorted sprinkles.

Pour into cupcake tins and fill 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool, then frost.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cute heart-shaped pan.  These were over-filled by the way.