How to Make Rainbow Cupcakes

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: December 21, 2021 Tested

Rainbow cupcakes can add a colorful flair to any gathering or special occasion. Transform a simple vanilla cake batter with food coloring, and then carefully layer each different color of batter into a cupcake tin. Choose a combination of your favorite colors for the batter, or stick to the standard colors of the rainbow. Once baked, top the finished product with your choice of icing and sprinkles, and enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 12 cupcakes.

1 3/4 cup (210 g) cake flour
1 tsp (4 g) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1.5 g) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) salt
² ⁄ ₃ cup (160 mL) whole milk
Zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp (4.9 mL) pure vanilla extract
12 tbsp (14.2 g) unsalted butter
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
3 large egg whites, or 2 large eggs
4-6 different colors of food coloring
Frosting of your choosing—vanilla, buttercream, cool whip, or cream cheese
Cupcake toppings such as sprinkles, colored sugar, food coloring, etc. (optional)

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Making Homemade Cupcake Batter

1
Combine cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. Pour in 1 3/4 cup (210 g) of cake flour into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Then, add in 1 tsp (4 g) of baking powder, 1/4 tsp (1.5 g) of baking soda, and 1/2 tsp (2.5 g) of salt. Use a spoon to stir the dry ingredients together until they are blended. ^{[1]
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- Instead of making the cupcake batter from scratch, you can simplify the process by using a boxed white cake mix. This is a great alternative if you want to save time or are new to baking. Simply follow the mixing instructions outlined on your particular cake mix to prepare the batter. Then, begin coloring and baking the batter. ^{[2]
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2
Whisk ² ⁄ ₃ cup (160 mL) of whole milk with 1 tsp (4.9 mL) pure vanilla extract. Pour the milk into a small mixing bowl. Then, whisk in the vanilla extract until the ingredients are fully blended. ^{[3]
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- Instead of whole milk, use an equal amount of soy milk as a substitute. The soy milk will create a nice thick batter for your cupcakes. You can alternatively use milk with a lower fat content, but know that your batter will not be as thick and may be difficult to work with when layering the colored batter. ^{[4]
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3
Beat 1 cup (200 g) of granulated sugar with 12 tbsp (14.2 g) of unsalted butter. Use a hand mixer on a medium speed to beat together the sugar and butter. Continue to beat the ingredients for 30 seconds or until the mixture becomes fluffy. ^{[5]
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- Before mixing the sugar and butter together, add the zest from 1 lemon to give your vanilla cupcakes a light, citrus flavor.
4
Mix the egg whites from 3 large eggs into the bowl with the butter and sugar. Use the cracked eggshell or your hands to remove the yolks from 3 large eggs. Set your hand mixer to a low speed, and mix in the egg whites. Continue to gently beat the mixture for about 20-30 seconds or until it is blended. ^{[6]
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- The egg whites will make your cupcakes lighter and lower the cholesterol within them. For a denser cupcake, use 2 whole large eggs instead. ^{[7]
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5
Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk mixture to the sugar mixture. Set your hand mixer to low speed as you add in the dry and wet ingredients. Add a spoonful of the dry ingredients and then a splash of the wet. This will keep the batter from becoming overly wet or dry when mixing. Continue to do this until all of the ingredients have been added. ^{[8]
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- The length of time you spend mixing the batter greatly depends on how fast or slow you add the dry and wet ingredients to the bowl. The whole process may take about 1-2 minutes. When you are done mixing, you should have a smooth batter.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Coloring and Baking the Cupcakes

1
Preheat your oven to 325 °F (163 °C) before you begin mixing the batter. Clear the oven of any baking pans or trays before heating the oven. Move the oven rack to the center rung so your cupcakes will cook evenly. ^{[9]
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- If you are using a boxed cake mix to create your cupcakes, then make sure to follow the preheating and cooking instructions given on the box.
2
Place a white, paper cupcake liner into each well of a 12-cup muffin tin. Avoid using a colored or patterned liner for the rainbow cupcakes. The white liners will almost become transparent when baked and will show off the different colored cupcake layers. ^{[10]
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- Use 2 smaller, 6-cup muffin tins if you do not have one that will support 12 cupcakes.
3
Divide the cupcake batter into 4-6 bowls using a measuring spoon or cup. Only divide the batter up for as many food-coloring colors as you have. So if you only have 4 colors, then divide the batter up into 4 bowls. Don’t worry if the amounts between each bowl aren’t the same. Use your best visual judgment to do this. ^{[11]
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- For a traditional rainbow (purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red) divide your batter into 6 bowls.
- Alternatively divide the batter up into 2-3 bowls, and only use your favorite colors. For example, use red and green for a holiday cupcake or blue, green, and purple to represent your favorite color combination.
4
Stir 3 drops of food coloring into each of the bowls filled with batter. For example, add 3 drops of red food coloring to one of the bowls, and 3 drops of blue food coloring to another bowl. Continue to do this until all of the bowls filled with batter have been colored. ^{[12]
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- If needed, add additional drops of food coloring to make the colors of the batter more vibrant.
5
Add 1-2 tsp (4.67 g) of 1 colored batter into each of the 12 muffin cups. Divide the first colored batter as evenly as you can between the 12 muffin cups. Use the back of a spoon to help smooth out the batter to create the bottom layer. ^{[13]
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- Try to arrange your colors according to those found within a rainbow—purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
6
Continue to add different layers of batter until the muffin cups are filled. Make sure to use the back of a clean spoon to carefully smooth out each layer before adding another color. When you are finished, each of the cupcake liners will be filled with batter. ^{[14]
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- Do not stir the batter colors together, as this will muddy the colors and ruin the illusion of the different layers.
7
Bake your cupcakes in the oven at 325 °F (163 °C) for about 20 minutes. Gently poke the cupcakes with a cake tester or a fork to see if the batter is still gooey. If the centers of the cupcakes aren’t cooked, allow them to continue baking for 1-2 minutes. ^{[15]
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- If you used a boxed cake mix to make the cupcake batter, follow the baking instructions for that particular cake mix.
8
Let the cupcakes rest in the pan for 5 minutes and then put them on a rack. Once the cupcakes have rested, carefully place the cupcakes onto a baking rack to cool off at room temperature for 1-2 hours. This will make it easier to decorate the cupcakes, but it will also give the cupcakes a chance to firm. ^{[16]
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- Do not attempt to frost the cupcakes until they are completely cool. Otherwise, the icing will melt and slide off your cupcakes.
- Speed up the process by placing your cupcakes in the refrigerator for approximately 30 minutes.
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Decorating Your Rainbow Cupcakes

1
Create a cloud of white, vanilla icing on top of your rainbow cupcakes. Fill a sandwich bag with your vanilla icing, and cut one of the bottom corners off. Gently squeeze the icing onto the cupcake using a circular motion. Make the swirl of icing as large or as small as you want. The vibrant colors of the cupcakes will contrast nicely with the white frosting. ^{[17]
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- Make the icing swirl about 1 in (2.5 cm) for a dramatic topping, or make it ¹ ⁄ ₂ – ¹ ⁄ ₄ in (1.27–0.64 cm) thick for a more subtle look.
- If you are feeling adventurous, consider making a homemade vanilla icing. Experiment by adding in some cool whip to give the icing a fluffy or cloud-like effect.
Spread about ¹ ⁄ ₄ in (0.64 cm) layer of either buttercream or cream cheese frosting onto each of your cupcakes. Add more if you want, but know that the taste of these dense icings may overpower the taste of the cupcake. ^{[18]
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3
Color your icing by stirring in drops of food coloring. Before piping the icing on top of your cupcakes, add 1-3 drops of food coloring to give it a subtle or vibrant color that will complement the look of your cupcakes. Choose a color that is used in your cupcakes, or choose a color that you didn’t get the chance to use. ^{[19]
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- Refrain from using too many different colors of icing on a single cupcake, as this may detract from the hard work you put into creating the colorful cupcake layers.
- Alternatively, make your cupcakes look like a rainbow when presented together by using a single color of icing for each cupcake. Use red icing on 2 cupcakes, orange icing on another 2 cupcakes, and so on.
4
Use sprinkles and colored sugar to add more color to your cupcakes. Use sprinkles or colored sugar to dress up the icing on each of your cupcakes. Use a rainbow of colors that reflect the colors used within your cupcake, or simply choose your favorite color to make it an accent. ^{[20]
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- Using blue sprinkles on top of a white cloud of icing will give the illusion of a blue sky.
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Community Q&A

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Question

How do I make the rainbow-swirl buttercream frosting?

Qamar

Top Answerer

Place different colors of buttercream frosting in a sandwich bag. Close the bag and snip the corner to pipe it.

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How can I make the batter?

Community Answer

Follow the instructions listed in the article above.

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What is the recipe for the frosting?

Qamar

Top Answerer

We have a how-to on that! Check out how to Make Rainbow Frosting.

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Warnings

Be careful not to stir together the different colors of the batter while layering them into the cupcake liners. Otherwise, your colors may look muddy once cooked. ^{[21]
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Things You’ll Need

12-cup muffin tin
12 white, paper cupcake liners
Measuring cups and spoons
1 large mixing bowl
1 medium-sized mixing bowl
1 small mixing bowl
4-6 small bowls to divide the batter into
4-6 spoons
Whisk
Standing mixer or hand mixer

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How to Make Rainbow Cupcakes

Ingredients

Steps

Making Homemade Cupcake Batter

Coloring and Baking the Cupcakes

Decorating Your Rainbow Cupcakes

Community Q&A

Warnings

Things You’ll Need

You Might Also Like

References

About this article

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