St Patrick’s Day Cupcakes
Green frosting! Rainbows made from candy strips on top with little gold sprinkles at the ends like treasure. St Patrick’s Day cupcakes perfection.
I made these last year for a party and my friends and their kids went crazy. The rainbow candy part is so fun because you just stick it right in the frosting and it looks like a real rainbow arching over. Kids especially loved them but the adults did too honestly – they make for great Instagram photos. 🙂
Only twenty minutes for batter, then baking takes twenty more, then green frosting and all the decorating is maybe fifteen minutes. Look super festive and special – let’s get into it.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 ½ cups flour, regular all-purpose
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt from the sea
- ½ cup butter, no salt, soft
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, medium ones
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup milk or the non-dairy kind
For the green icing:
- 1 cup butter without salt, soft
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 to 4 tablespoons milk or non-dairy
- Green food coloring, gel or liquid both work
For the rainbow decoration:
- Rainbow candy strips, chewy type
- Gold flakes that are edible, or gold sprinkles, or dazzle dust for pot of gold
Makes 12. Prep 20 minutes. Bake 20. Total 45 minutes maybe.
How to Do It
Make the Cupcakes
Turn oven to 350°F. 175°C if that’s your kind. Cupcake liners go in a pan. Twelve spots.
Medium bowl. Whisk flour with baking powder and salt together.
Big bowl time. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy looking. Two or three minutes.
Add eggs and mix good. Vanilla extract goes in too.
Flour mixture into wet stuff now but slow. Milk too and alternate them. Flour first and flour last. Mix just until combined. Too much mixing is bad!
Batter splits into liners even. About ⅔ full each one.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes. Toothpick in middle comes out clean when ready.
Wire rack for cooling. All the way cool. Not warm at all or frosting melts which is bad.
Make the Green Icing
Big bowl out. Beat butter until smooth.
Powdered sugar goes in one cup at a time. Beat until all mixed in.
Vanilla now. Milk three tablespoons. More milk one tablespoon each time if you need for spreading right.
Green food coloring! However much for the green you like. Bright green is good for St Patrick’s I think.
Frost the Cupcakes
Cupcakes cool? Good. Frost with lots of green icing. I use a spatula or palette knife is better even.
Add Rainbow Decorations
Get rainbow candy strips! Cut pieces long enough for a small arch on each cupcake.
Press ends gentle in the frosting. Both ends. Rainbow arch happens. Super cute!
Gold flakes or sprinkles at rainbow ends. Pot of gold! Liquorice candy makes a pot shape and sprinkles on top if you want fancy.
St Patrick’s Day Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk or non-dairy alternative
For the green icing
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk or non-dairy alternative
- Green food coloring gel or liquid
For the rainbow decoration
- Rainbow candy strips
- Edible gold flakes/strips dazzle dust or gold sprinkles (for the ends of the rainbow, optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add the eggs mixing well to incorporate to the mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling each about ⅔ full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter until smooth.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and beat until fully incorporated.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of milk. Add more milk, one tablespoon at a time , until you reach a spreadable consistency.
- Add green food coloring until you achieve the desired shade of green.
- Once the cupcakes are cooled, frost them generously with the green icing. Use a spatula or palette knife for better results.
- Take rainbow candy strips and cut them into pieces long enough to form a small arch on top of each cupcake.
- Gently press both ends of the rainbow strip into the icing to create a rainbow arch.
- Sprinkle gold flakes and sprinkles at the end of the rainbow. You can also use liquorice candy to resemble a vessel/pot of gold and add sprinkles and/or gold flakes on top.
