Easy Mardi Gras Cupcakes

Looking for an easy Mardi Gras Cupcakes recipe? These Tie Dye cupcakes are colorful, delicious and perfect for celebrating. Surprisingly easy to make, everyone is going to love these cupcakes.

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Easy Mardi Gras Cupcakes Recipe

Mardi Gras cupcakes to celebrate Fat Tuesday! These cupcakes are swirled with the Mardi Gras colors of purple representing justice, gold representing power, and green representing faith. If you are like me and unable to make it down for Mardi Gras, whip up a batch of these rainbow cupcakes and celebrate anyway! These cupcakes are made from my favorite recipe for a classic white layer cake, only with a burst of coloring added.

They always bake up super moist and tender. I layered the batter into the muffin tins by squeezing the different colored batter using ziploc bags with the ends snipped off. This made the process so much quicker and less messy. So what are you waiting for? Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Can I Use a Cake Mix for This Recipe?

If you want to make these cupcakes but want to use a cake mix instead you can. This is a basic white cake recipe with almond extract. You will add the almond extract, then separate the batter into the bowls to add the different colors. This is what is going to create the tie dye effect.

How do You Make Tie Dye Cupcakes?

When you are making tie dye cupcakes, you get the tie dye effect by coloring the vanilla batter different colors. Start by separating the batter into however many colors you are making. In this case, I am using 3 colors. Since one of my colors is yellow, I needed to use 3 bowls in total. When making the cupcakes, I use ziplock bags with each color and add a bit of each color into the cupcake liners. This fills the cupcakes and makes them tie dye with all the different colors in them.

How to Store these Mardi Gras Cupcakes

When you are storing these cupcakes, you want to make sure the cupcakes are protected from the air. When cupcakes are not protected from air, they will become stale easily and this will make the cupcakes go bad. Store the cupcakes at room temperature in an airtight container. If you will not finish the cupcakes before they go bad, you can also store them in the freezer. When you are storing the cupcakes in the freezer you want to freeze them before putting them in a freezer bag. Put the cupcakes on a plate or a baking sheet in the freezer. Once they are frozen you can move them to the freezer bag. This keeps the frosting from sticking to the plastic or to the other cupcakes.

Ingredients for Mard Gras Cupcakes

How to Make Mardi Gras Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a 2-cup glass measure, combine milk, egg whites, and extracts and mix with a fork until blended.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low-speed combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add butter and continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.

Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed for 1½ minutes.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup of the milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop the mixer and scrape sides of the bowl. Return mixer to medium speed and beat 20 seconds longer.

Pour a scant cup of the cake mix into three separate mixing bowls. Mix in food colorings and place the colored batter into three individual Ziploc bags.

Squeeze cake batters into each cupcake well, alternating colors. (I did purple first, followed by green)

Then yellow on top.

Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer muffin pan to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cool completely prior to frosting.

Yum!

Now, time to save this recipe on Pinterest for later 🙂

Easy Mardi Gras Cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 CUPCAKES

Looking for an easy Mardi Gras Cupcakes recipe? These Tie Dye cupcakes are colorful, delicious and perfect for celebrating. Surprisingly easy to make, everyone is going to love these cupcakes.

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Ingredients 

2 1/4 cups cake flour 1 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature 6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature 2 teaspoons almond extract 1 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoons table salt 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool purple, green, and yellow food coloring purple, green, and yellow sanding sugars For the Buttercream Frosting: 20 tablespoons (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened 2½ cups Confectioners’ sugar 1/8 teaspoon table salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 tablespoons heavy cream

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, 3/4 cup, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons table salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• purple, green, and yellow food coloring
• purple, green, and yellow sanding sugars

For the Buttercream Frosting:

• 20 tablespoons 2½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2½ cups Confectioners’ sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
• In a 2-cup glass measure, combine milk, egg whites, and extracts and mix with fork until blended.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
• Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed for 1½ minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium speed and beat 20 seconds longer.
• Pour a scant cup of the cake mix into three separate mixing bowls. Mix in food colorings and place the colored batter into three individual Ziploc bags.
• Squeeze cake batter into each cupcake well, alternating colors. (I did purple first, followed by green…)
• Then yellow on top.
• Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer muffin pan to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cool completely prior to frosting.
• To make buttercream frosting, in standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.
• Place frosting into a large decorators decorating bag fitted with the 1M decorating tip and approximately 1/4″ above cupcake top at a 90° angle to cupcake surface,  pipe a spiral of icing, beginning at the outer edge and working inward. Sprinkle with sanding sugars.

Notes

Source: cupcakes adapted from Bean Town Baker, frosting Crumbly Cookie

Author: Laura

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