Cotton Candy Cupcakes

With summer officially in swing, I can’t help but think of fair food: funnel cakes, candy apples, corn dogs, and, as you can imagine, cotton candy! Growing up, I used to LOVE cotton candy, especially the blue (actually, anything blue candy gets my vote), so it only makes sense that I made a cupcake version.
The cake itself is a pretty standard vanilla–where the cotton candy comes in is the lovely cotton candy toppings (of course) and the frosting. Yep, that’s right: there’s cotton candy in the frosting. Not only does it provide a bit of coloring (I opted to add a bit of coloring, but it’s optional), but some of the cotton candy doesn’t fully dissolve, leaving lovely little pieces.

What You Need

Cupcake Batter

• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) salted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ cup milk

Frosting

• 2 ¾ cups powdered sugar (+ more, if thicker consistency is desired)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup cotton candy
• Food coloring gel, optional

Decorations

• Cotton candy
• Lollipop sticks

How You Do It
Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Mix eggs and sugar until combined.
3. Add in softened butter and vanilla. Beat until lumps are minimal (about 2 minutes).
4. In separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients: flour and baking powder. Alternating with the milk add into the wet ingredients, mixing for 10-15 seconds each.

½ cup flour
¼ cup milk
½ cup flour
¼ cup milk
½ cup flour

5. Pour batter into the muffin tin, dividing equally.

 

6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until toothpick comes out cleanly.Frosting

1. Starting with ½ cup powdered sugar, combine with 1 tablespoon of milk and all of the softened butter. If mixture appears stiff or dry, that’s okay! 
   

   
2. Add in vanilla and ½ cup of cotton candy.
3. Add in the rest of the milk, confectioner’s sugar, and cotton candy. Not all of the cotton candy would dissolve, and, if you’re like, feel free to add in a bit more–no rules here! If the frosting is too thin, feel free to add in more powdered sugar.
4. Color. Because the cotton candy turned the frosting a pale blue, I opted to use red; it turned it a light purple. Because I wanted it to remain a pretty pastel shade, I added only a tiny bit, but there’s no right or wrong amount.
5. Using your desired tip, pipe on the cupcakes.

Decorations

1. Wash and dry your hands. Dry hands are crucial to this! If you’d like, either wear gloves or coat your fingers in cornstarch. Otherwise, the cotton candy will dissolve against your fingers.
2. Tear off some cotton candy. Using as little pressure as possible, wrap it around the lollipop stick.
3. Press the stick into the center of the cupcake.
4. Step back and admire your work!

A quick note: if you can, hold off on decorating these. As pretty as they are, if the cotton candy is exposed to air for too long, it hardened as becomes brittle (see below).

Otherwise, I absolutely love these! They’re just so fun. They’re both super easy and have a huge impact. Plus, it’s a good use of leftover cotton candy that you brought home from your local fair or carnival.

What do you think? Give them a go, and share your results! Until next time,
♥Danielle