Rainbow Cupcakes
Rainbow cupcakes are such an easy dessert to make! This colorful, fun treat is always the hit of the party! Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, birthdays, or any occasion!
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Why I love this recipe
These rainbow cupcakes are one of those super easy desserts that make a big impact.
Every time I make these I get so many compliments! Little do they know that I “cheat” and use boxed mix and premade frosting for this rainbow cupcake recipe!
Ingredients
- white cake mix + ingredients on package
- vanilla frosting
- food coloring – Use gel food coloring to color the batter without affecting the taste. I recommend Wilton gel food coloring because it has the brightest colors and won’t thin the batter or affect the taste.
If you want to make the cake mix taste more homemade I recommend adding an extra egg, a package of vanilla instant pudding mix, and 1/3 cup of vegetable oil in addition to the ingredients on the box. (More about how to hack a cake mix here.)
Step by step
Using a boxed mix makes these treats soooo easy!
- Prep a normal box of white cake mix in a large mixing bowl. Divide the batter into six separate bowls (do not use plastic bowls to avoid staining.)
- Add food coloring to the batter and stir to mix. I used red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple but you can use any combination you can come up with!
- After preparing the batter, spoon it in layers into a muffin pan lined with liners. I start with purple then work my way up the rainbow but you can add the batter in whatever order you prefer.
- Once you’ve added all of your colored batters, cook the rainbow cupcakes according to the box instructions and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- You can use any kind of frosting to top off these cupcakes. They are delicious with a cream cheese frosting, or you can hack a store bought frosting to top it off.
I like to add 8 ounces of cream cheese OR a container of cool whip to the store-bought icing and then whip it up in the large bowl on my stand mixer (affiliate link). It will fluff up and taste amazing with no need to start from scratch!
And of course, rainbow sprinkles are a must for the cupcakes too! I have also seen people use rainbow colored Airheads Extremes to form a little rainbow topper for the cupcakes instead of sprinkles.
Looking for more rainbow colored ideas? Try our Kool Aid cookies, funfetti cookies, or funfetti dessert cheeseball.
Storage
Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
You can freeze the cupcakes before frosting for up to 3 months in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container (affiliate link).
Aren’t they so much fun?? No one will ever guess just how easy these rainbow cupcakes are! They are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, baby shower, birthday parties, or just anytime you want a simple, special treat.
If you try this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
Print
Rainbow Cupcakes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
Description
Rainbow cupcakes are so easy to make! This colorful dessert is always the hit of the party! Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, birthdays, or any occasion!
Ingredients
For the rainbow cupcakes:
- white cake mix & ingredients on package
- gel food coloring
If desired, add in addition:
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 package vanilla pudding mix
For the icing:
- 1 container store bought white icing
- Sprinkles, optional
If desired, fluff in the mixer along with 8 ounces of softened cream cheese or one container of whipped cream
Instructions
- Prepare cake mix according to package instructions, adding extra ingredients if desired.
- Divide mix into six bowls and add different food color to each until the desired intensity is reached.
- Drop colored batter into lined muffin tin a spoonful at a time, layering the colors.
- Cook according to package instructions.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Whip frosting with extra ingredients in a stand mixer (affiliate link) if desired. Frost cupcakes and top with sprinkled is desired.
Notes
Nutritional information is for cupcakes without additional ingredients added in.
Store in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze without frosting up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 140
- Sugar: 12.1 g
- Sodium: 85.3 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 20.5 g
- Protein: 1.1 g
- Cholesterol: 24.8 mg
These cupcakes you made looks too cute.
I tried this recipe last night you stated in this post. It was yummy but mine cupcakes didn’t look this much cute although i followed you step by step.
BTW Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe, I would love to see more like this from you. Hope you will come up with these cool and delicious ideas in the future.
Looking so sweet & yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
wow, this recipe is just amazing it looks so easy to make such beautiful cupcakes. There are also so many ways for you to decorate your cupcakes with. Everybody likes to follow a method that is easy for them and gives the best results. Method for baking every cupcake is pretty much the same but there is only change in the flavor and recipe.
https://www.pakboxes.com/cupcake-boxes/
Hello, I did the cupcakes as noted. However, how did you get the tops to be so red? When I did them it came out like tie dye at the top. Also the gel dye did slightly change the flavor. I wish I could leave a pic!
yum!!
YUM! I never think to use cool whip as frosting.Great idea. Looks light and fluffy and nummy! Sometimes frosting can just be too rich!! I am going to try these for our family dinner Sunday! My niece will get a kick out of them! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I hope they loved them!! My boys thought they were fantastic!!
How much food dye did you put?
The cupcakes look great! It takes TLC for them to look so good. I can’t even frost the cupcake well, let alone mixing different shades together. Awesome work.
it was easier than it looks I promise!
These are so cute, they’d be perfect from Easter! New follower and can’t wait to see more creative ideas!
These cupcakes are GORGEOUS !!
I love colors in food, especially desserts
It’s fun and it catches the eye, and we do eat with our eyes first.
I LOVE these cupcakes
Thanks so much Winnie!!
Can you use regular liquid food coloring?
Where do you buy th gel food coloring you used?
I didn’t try regular food coloring, my grocery store only carries the gel kind. My only concern with using the liquid kind would be they sometimes alter the taste if you use a lot (I learned that the hard way!)
These cupcakes are so much fun! Pinned, shared on Facebook, and will be featuring tomorrow 🙂 That’s how much I love them!
Thanks so much Trish! They were pretty tasty and fun to make with my son!
These are so cute! I would like to invite you to link up to Manic Monday – https://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com/2013/02/manic-monday-6.html
Have a great week!