grown-up funfetti cupcakes with bourbon strawberry buttercream
Sprinkles for ADULTS, damn it!
These little shits gave me a whole lot of grief, I tell you what. Somewhere amongst the swear words and offensive insults aimed at my poor baked frenemies, I discovered that our oven sits at a slight slant. This explains a whole lot of grief I’ve experienced with muffins or cupcakes having a weird tilt in their final form.
Lesson learned there: if your baked goods come out leaning one way or another, the issue may not be you, it might be the angle of your contraption. I solved this by placing a piece of foil folded in hand beneath the front of the cupcake tins. Seemed to help!
But yeah. Some recipes don’t work out great the first couple times around, but that’s why we keep going, especially when you’re stubborn and determined like I and just want to get it right. I love funfetti, perhaps because the array of hues makes me happy when my mind doesn’t really let any color in. Don’t be surprised if funfetti doughnuts make an appearance eventually.
These cupcakes are pretty cool. Funfetti is not a new thing in the baking world, but I give the adults in this house a reason to withhold the treats from their snooping and prying kids with a bourbon-infused strawberry buttercream. Have to say “no dessert tonight, honey” cos ya’ll cant be feeding your kids booze. Well, you can, I guess, but I’m not about to condone it, so don’t tell me.
We’ve got a soft vanilla cake batter cupcake swirled with sprinkles, and that sweet and snappy frosting swirled atop. They’re quite simple, as most cupcakes are, excepting the whole having patience part. You’ll want to dive right in, but keep your pants on, folks! The wait is worth it.
A Cup of Cake
My batter is quite straightforward, so let’s get going.
Beat some sugar and butter, then adds, vanilla, and a good helping of Greek yogurt. Keeps shit soft. Scrape down your bowl with a spatula, then whip in flour, baking powder and baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in those sprinkly winklies with your spatula until well incorporated.
Line two 12-slot muffin tins with parchment or paper liners (I used white because I think it looks a little nicer with the pale cupcakes). Scoop batter into the liners until 2/3 of the way full. Any more than that and you’ll have some spillage, fellas.
Bake about 20-25 minutes. Mine took 22, so check them out after 20 and gauge from there. You’ll know they’re done when your little toothpick isn’t covered in goop.
Cool these bad boys in the pans for about 5 minutes, then move them gently to a wire rack to cool completely. There should be no trace of warmth left. Here, you can put them in a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days before icing, or you can butter(cream) it up, buttercup. Yeah, baby.
Straw-bourbon
This is a dope frosting, so be ready to scoop some into your mouth before they even reach the cupcakes.
For the strawberry flavor, I chose good-quality preserves. The flavor won’t overpower the buttercream but gives a good hint that plays nicely with our bourbon. Choose whatever bourbon you like for the occasion. Or, if you have to feed these to your kids, you can leave out the bourbon. Bo-ring.
Whip up the butter with the preserves, bourbon, and vanilla first, to get them well incorporated. Slowly add in the powdered sugar – I go a cup at a time – and whip on low speed until combined with the wet ingredients. If you turn your mixer on too high you’re gonna be coughing from flying sugar all day. Good to eat, not so good to wear.
As the mixer churns away, stream in a little heavy cream for that floof element. Scrape down the bowl as needed while you whip the frosting, and stop when it’s really nice and soft. This’ll take a few minutes.
Mmmm. Tasty.
Pipe the frosting onto each cupcake as you will. Decorated cuties will keep for a few days, but I usually refrigerate mine since Florida humidity wrecks the dudes before long.
A fun little observance of summertime slowness. A cupcake and a glass of wine sounds like a real good idea right now, but I should probably eat dinner since it’s 6pm right now and I have to work early tomorrow. There’s always later!
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
The cupcakery:
Milk Chocolate Banana Mini Egg Cupcakes
grown-up funfetti cupcakes with bourbon strawberry buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup funfetti jimmies, plus more for sprinking
bourbon strawberry buttercream
- 12 tbsp butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
- 2-3 tbsp bourbon
- 3 tbsp strawberry preserves
- 2 tsp vanilla exctract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins with parchment or paper liners.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Whip in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated, then the vanilla and Greek yogurt. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. Stir in the funfetti sprinkles until relatively evenly distributed. Do not overmix.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the centers are set and an inserted toothpick emerges with just a few moist crumbs. Let cool 5 minutes in the pans, then move to a wire rack. Cool completely.
- To make the buttercream: add the butter, bourbon, strawberry preserves, and vanilla to a large bowl. Beat on low speed until combined. With the mixer running, add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until incorporated. Then, turn the mixer to high and beat in the heavy cream. Continue whipping for about 2-3 minutes until the frosting is smooth and fluffy. If needed, add another tablespoon or two of heavy cream to loosen the frosting.
- Slap the buttercream into a piping bag with your tip of choice, or into a ziptop bag with a corner snipped off. Swirl and curl that shit all over the cupcakes, using as much or as little as you please. Sprinkle with extra funfetti, as desired.
