These pink cupcakes are light and fluffy pink velvet cake topped with a swirl of homemade cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. An easy and elegant dessert that’s perfect for parties!
When I’m looking to impress, I turn to dessert recipes like black forest cupcakes, Nutella cake, red velvet brownies and these beautiful pink velvet cupcakes.
Sometimes you just need a fun burst of color to turn a regular cupcake into a fun and festive treat! These pink cupcakes are simple to make, full of flavor, and are great for Valentine’s Day, gender reveal parties, bridal showers and so many other occasions.
Table of Contents
Pink Cupcakes Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, buttermilk, unsalted butter, vegetable oil, an egg, vanilla extract, white vinegar, pink gel food coloring, cream cheese, powdered sugar and pink sprinkles.
How Do You Make Pink Cupcakes?
Start by preparing the pink velvet cake batter. Preheat the oven, and place some pink cupcake liners into muffin tins. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients to a separate bowl, and whisk to blend. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then stir until you have a batter. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners, then bake. Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack.
To make the frosting, beat the butter and vanilla extract together until they are light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and cream to combine. Beat the cream cheese in a separate bowl. Add the cream cheese to the butter and sugar, and mix until you have a smooth and creamy frosting. Add the pink food coloring, then the frosting is ready to use.
Place the frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe a peak of frosting onto a cupcake, then pipe around the peak three times to create the perfect swirl. Add a few sprinkles. Repeat the process with the rest of the cupcakes, then serve and enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect Cupcakes
- The cupcakes can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days. They are best enjoyed at room temperature so one to two hours before serving, remove from the refrigerator. The cupcakes can be stored un-frosted in a container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- You can add more food coloring for a more intense pink color. Use less food coloring for a paler hue.
- Feel free to use any type of pink sprinkles that you like. I used pink pearls which I purchased at my local craft store.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use an offset spatula to frost the cupcakes. You fill one corner of a resealable plastic bag with frosting, then snip the tip off.
Quick Tip
I recommend using a gel food coloring for the best color. You can purchase this type of food color online or in craft stores.
Recipe FAQs
You can put your sprinkles on cupcakes the day before you plan to serve them. I recommend adding the sprinkles as soon as you place the frosting on the cupcakes so that the sprinkles will stick before the frosting has time to harden.
To get the moist cake, I recommend adding some oil to your batter. Oil tends to add more moisture than butter. I typically use a combination of both oil and butter, for the perfect balance of moisture and rich flavor.
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Flavor Variations
These cupcakes are perfect as-is, but you can easily customize them to suit your tastes.
- Color: Not in a pink kind of mood? You can literally use any color of food coloring to transform these pink velvet cupcakes into red velvet cupcakes, purple cupcakes, green cupcakes or any other shade of the rainbow!
- Add-Ins: You can stir up to 1/2 cup of pink jimmy sprinkles or white chocolate chips into your cake batter.
- Toppings: Feel free to add different toppings to your cupcakes aside from sprinkles. Some great options include pastel colored M&M’s, a drizzle of white chocolate, pink sanding sugar or fresh raspberries.
Pink cupcakes are always a huge hit, no matter what occasion you happen to be celebrating!
More Dessert Recipes
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Pink Cake Recipe
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Pink Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 extra large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon pink gel food coloring
For the frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese cubed and softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pink gel food coloring
For the decorations
- ¼ cup pink sprinkles
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with pink cupcake liners.
- Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl then stir in the sugar.
- In a separate bowl, use a whisk to combine the buttermilk, melted butter, vegetable oil, egg, vanilla, vinegar, and pink food coloring.
- Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the mixture is just combined. Be careful not to overmix your batter.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcake liners. They will be filled 2/3rds of the way full.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting
- Beat the butter and vanilla extract together with a stand mixer or electric mixer for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until everything is combined.
- In a separate bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. This ensures there are no lumps of cream cheese in the frosting.
- Add the cream cheese to the frosting mixture and beat until combined. It should be smooth and creamy and have a medium consistency.
- Dip a toothpick into pink food coloring and use to tint the frosting a pale pink shade. Beat well until combined.
For the decorations
- Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe a peak of frosting in the center of a cupcake, then pipe around it three times moving closer to the center after each circle. Pull the piping tip away as you release the pressure on the bag.
- Repeat on the remaining cupcakes, then top each cupcake with sprinkles. Serve.
Notes
- The cupcakes can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days. They are best enjoyed at room temperature so one to two hours before serving, remove from the refrigerator. The cupcakes can be stored un-frosted in a container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- You can add more food coloring for a more intense pink color.
- Feel free to use any type of pink sprinkles that you like. I used pink pearls which I purchased at my local craft store.
