Today I’m showing you how to make these fun, surprise-inside Pinata Cupcakes! Made with my favorite vanilla cake batter, these cupcakes are light and springy and topped off with my recently shared vanilla frosting recipe. The sprinkle filling can be easily color-customized to suit any occasion, and I’ll show you how to use your favorite colors to add a pretty swirl to the frosting!
Today’s Pinata Cupcakes are exactly what I need after mother nature dropped over half a foot of snow on me on the first day of Spring!
They’re light, cheery, colorful, and the perfect way to add some brightness to your day, which is especially helpful if your day is otherwise blinding white from this springtime snowstorm!.
The best part is that these Pinata Cupcakes are so simple to make! Making them is as simple as baking a batch of vanilla cupcakes (you can, of course, substitute any flavor, but you can’t go wrong with these), making a minor incision, filling with sprinkles, and topping with frosting!
Let’s get into the details and break down exactly how you can make your own Pinata Cupcakes.
How to Make Pinata Cupcakes
You’ll want to start with a solid cupcake recipe, one that’s not too light and delicate as you need it to be sturdy enough to withstand being carved. I used my vanilla cake recipe for the base of these pinata cupcakes, if you haven’t tried that recipe yet this is a great excuse to do so.
Let the cupcakes cool completely before carving into them, and once they’ve cooled use a knife to cut a hole about ¾-1″ in diameter into the center of the cupcake, cutting about 1″ deep.
Remove the core that you’ve just cut out and slice off the bottom, reserving about ¼″ of the top. You’ll use this use as your plug to cover your sprinkle filling and to give you a level surface on which to pipe your frosting.
Now comes the fun part: the sprinkles!
You can use your favorite variety of sprinkles in your favorite colors. I like to make my own sprinkle blends that I use for most of my decorations.
Each Pinata Cupcake center should hold about 1 Tablespoon of sprinkles, but add as many as you need, filling each cavity to just below the top of the cupcake. Return your reserved cupcake “plug” and gently press it down over the sprinkles so that it is level with the rest of the cupcake.
Now our Pinata Cupcakes are ready for their frosting!
You can, of course, use your favorite variety of frosting (I have a cream cheese frosting and a chocolate frosting you may want to check out), but for today’s recipe I’m using my vanilla frosting that I recently shared. It’s easy to make, great for piping, and colors beautifully.
How to add a colorful swirl to my cupcake frosting:
To decorate your cupcakes as you seen in these photos, you’ll need a large piping bag fitted with an open star tip (I used an Ateco 848), your favorite food coloring colors (I recommend choosing no more than 3 for the effect shown here), and a clean, never-before-used paintbrush.
Coloring the frosting is simple, all you need to do is dab a small amount of food coloring onto your paint brush and then use it to draw a straight line (as straight as possible, as you can see in the photo above, mine are a bit crooked, but it still turned out fine!) up the inside of the piping bag. Repeat with the same color on the opposite side of the bag.
Clean and dry your paintbrush, and then repeat with your second and then third color. Make sure to space each line evenly across the piping bag.
While I really love filling my cupcakes with sprinkles, you can of course use mini M&Ms or other small candies that you think would be appropriate!
Enjoy!
Piñata Cupcakes
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (56g)
- ¼ cup canola oil* (60ml)
- ¾ cup sugar (150g)
- 2 eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (188g)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- 1 batch Vanilla Frosting
- Food coloring optional, I recommend using gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare cupcake tin by lining a 12 count muffin tin with cupcake liners
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer) cream together the butter, canola oil and sugar until creamy and well-combined.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Using a spatula and gently hand-mixing, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined after each addition. The batter should be smooth and completely combined, but avoid over-mixing.
- Evenly divide batter into your prepared muffin tin (I use an ice cream scoop to neatly portion the batter), filling each liner ⅔-¾ of the way full (do NOT overfill) and bake on 350F (175C) for 17 minutes.
- When the cupcakes are finished baking, the surface should spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean with few moist crumbs (no wet batter).
- Allow cupcakes to cool completely before continuing.
- Once cupcakes have cooled completely, use a knife to cut a hole about 1" in diameter and 1" deep into the center of each cupcake. I carve a hole using the knife and gently lift out the center. Cut the bottom off of each insert and set aside the top, which will serve as the plug for your cupcakes.
- Fill each carved hole with sprinkles (about 1 Tbsp), filling just below the brim of the cupcake. Top with your cupcake plug and gently press down. Top with vanilla frosting.
- To get the colorful swirls shown in the pictures, you will need a large piping bat fitted with a large star tip (I used an Ateco 848) and a small, clean, never used paintbrush. Dab a small drop of food coloring on the paintbrush and then use it to draw 2-3 stripes up the side of your frosting bag. Clean and dry the paintbrush well, and then repeat with two other colors. Fill the bag with frosting, and pipe over cooled, filled cupcakes.
- These cupcakes keep well when stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or 1 week in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Tiffany
Hi Sam.
I would like to make this recipe and use the same type of sprinkles that you used in the bag with the gray label, pictured with the last picture up top. Can you tell me where you got them from please? Thank you in advance! 🙂
Sam
Hi Tiffany! I actually made this blend myself. I buy a bunch of different sprinkles from Country Kitchen Sweetart and make my own blend. I hope to one day be able to sell my blends but it’s a long process. Sorry I can’t be more helpful here. 🙁
Maddy
After making your incredible carrot cake cupcakes last week, I decided to make these this week for a friend’s birthday. They were so much fun to make, came out so cute and were delicious too. They tasted like Publix cupcakes for anyone who lives in the south! Also, if you are feeling lazy like I was I recommend the brand “Fancy Sprinkles” for a fun sprinkle blend that looks similar to Sam’s. Thank you Sam!!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Maddy! 🙂
Jada
Hi, I Love All Of Your Recipes. I Was Wondering If You Have A Viedo On How To Do The Diffrent Colors To Make The Pretty Design Swirl ? I Am More Of An Visual Learner. Thankyou For Your Time In Sharing Your Recipes. Looking Foward To Trying More.
Sam
Thank you Jada! Unfortunately I have not made a video of this but I do have a short section on how I do it in the actual post.
Simone
Hello again!
Is this recipe soft and fluffy like the vanilla cupcakes? I compared the two and and the recipe is different. I just love the vanilla cupcake recipe that’s why.🤗
Sam
Hi Simone! Yes this is also a soft and fluffy cupcake. 🙂
Amy Miljavac
Hi!! So first I think maybe I used to much frosting on each one as the batch didn’t even cover 12 cupcakes lol. Also, mine came out more like “Princess Poppy and the Trolls spit all over it” as my husband said haha. I did three colors, two stripes each. There was no white though…it just all came out blue pink and purple. What can I do to fix this?
Sam
Haha, the visual made me laugh! I hope it still tasted good! So this definitely sounds like too much food coloring was used. For my frosting in the photos I just painted several thin and faint stripes of color on the inside of the bag and did not color the frosting, just left it white (you can see how it looks in the photo in the post). I also do not paint all the way down to the bottom, you can see again in the photo about how low I went with my stripes. If you go all the way to the tip it can make the color more bold.
I hope that helps! I will have to do a video of how I make this.
Megan
I saw that you said you use gel food coloring, but do you think it would work with liquid??
Sam
Hi Megan! I’m not sure the liquid stuff would stay in the piping bag quite the same way.
Abbey
These cupcakes look so good!!! What kind of food dye did you use? Gel or liquid? thanks!
Sam
Hi Abbey! I really like using gel food coloring. I hope you love them! 🙂
Belinda
I was wondering, Is the icing on it buttercream icing or frosting? Is there a difference between the two? Thanks
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Belinda! For this recipe, I use a classic vanilla buttercream frosting. The difference between frosting and icing is that frosting is thick and fluffy, and is used to coat inside/outside layers of a cake. Icing is thinner and glossier than frosting and can be used as a glaze or for detailed decorating. I hope that helps! 🙂
Anvi
This is Awesome! This just made my cupcake game a lot higher
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cupcakes, Anvi! Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂
judy
I am making these for a baby shower. Can I make them two days ahead of time. Will the color bleed? Will they stay fresh?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Judy! Making them in two days in advance will be fine. You shouldn’t have any issues. I hope that the cupcakes are a hit at the shower. 🙂
Kate
Great recipe! I used it in a cooking class and the teacher couldn’t believe they were made from scratch. Very tasty, and clear instructions.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that you enjoyed the Pinata Cupcakes, Kate. I have glad you impressed your teacher and found the recipe easy to follow. Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it! 🙂
Sara Joy
Can these be made the day ahead without the sprinkles getting ‘soggy’?
Sam
Yup! I’ve never had a problem with the sprinkles getting soggy. Enjoy! 🙂
Tyna
With the food color technique with the frosting, did you only paint them on one side like that, or are there some on the other side as well? I would like to try this with red and blue for fouth of July!
Sam
Hi Tyna! I painted stripes around the whole bag (though you could do just one side if you wanted). In the overhead picture it is hard to see the stripes on one side, though.
Denise
Would you share your sprinkle blend you used for the center of your cupcakes? And did you use gel food coloring with the paint brush as stripes inside the large piping bag? Thanks
Sam
I actually make my own blends, I made this one using a bunch of different sprinkles that I had on hand. I usually buy my sprinkles from countrykitchensa.com. I did use gel food coloring (Americolor). Enjoy!