Cotton Candy Cupcakes Recipes

So it’s been a while since I’ve talked about football. Perhaps you’ve even forgotten which team I root for. Well despite living in Atlanta, I’m a massive Carolina Panthers fan. I grew up in Charlotte, NC and have been going to Panthers games since they started. Like literally since before they had a stadium and they played at Clemson stadium. My dad would pile us all in the car and drive us to South Carolina for every home game.
And my love goes even deeper. My first crush was a Panthers football player. I was in 5th grade. His name was Kerry Collins. Our very first quarterback. #truestory

In fact, just to get even more embarrassing, I’ll tell you that I met him once in a parking lot and got his autograph. And cried. Like ugly cried. Like I cried so hard all I could do was hand him the paper and pen and cry some more. Oh the joys of being 11.

I can’t even count the number of games I’ve been too, the amount of rain I’ve been soaked while watching a game (don’t leave your seats!), the times I’ve screamed and banged on chairs until I couldn’t scream any more.

But guys, there have been a lot of bad seasons. Like, bad. Brutal as they’ve been, I’ve been watching them all. Which makes this season that much more fun to watch. In case you don’t follow football, the Panthers are now 6-0. They won again last night and it was a beautiful thing. I am super pumped that they are kicking butt, but also terrified more and more every week. It’s so much pressure! Ahh!!

Cotton Candy Cupcakes Recipes
Prep time:  20 mins
Cook time:  18 mins
Total time:  38 mins

Ingredients

    FOR THE CAKE:

•     1 box white cake mix
•     1 cup water
•     ½ cup vegetable oil
•     4 egg whites
•     Pink and blue food coloring
•     1 Tbsp cotton candy flavoring

    FOR THE FROSTING & TOPPING:

•     ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
•     1 - 1 & ½ tsp cotton candy flavoring
•     ½ tsp vanilla extract
•     ¼ cup heavy whipping cream or milk
•     3-4 cups confectioners' sugar
•     Blue and pink cotton candy
•     Blue and pink sanding sugar
•     Popsicle sticks

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with 18 paper liners; set aside. Meanwhile, prepare your cake batter: combine the cake mix, egg whites, oil, water, and cotton candy flavoring with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide the batter evenly among two bowls and tint each bowl with your desired shade of blue and pink (I only did one drop of coloring per bowl for a more pastel look).
2. Evenly distribute the colors among each muffin cup, filling about ¾ full. Don't swirl the batters, just layer them. Swirling the batters together may muddy the colors.
3. Bake for approx. 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Cool completely.
4. For the frosting, cream the butter, cotton candy flavoring and vanilla extract together in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually add in the confectioners' sugar, about one cup at a time, alternating with little streams of the heavy cream until the frosting is light and fluffy. Divide the frosting evenly among two bowls and tint each bowl with blue and pink until your desired shade has been achieved. (Again, I did one drop of each color).
5. Using a pastry bag fixed with your desired tip, spoon some of the blue frosting down one side of the pastry bag. Spoon some of the pink frosting down the other side of the bag. It's okay if the frosting colors mix toward the tip portion of the bag; it'll just turn purple
6. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and top with a sprinkling of blue and pink sanding sugar. To make the cotton candy sticks, rip off a small piece of cotton candy and attach it to the wet end of a popsicle stick (just stick the popsicle stick tip in a little water). Serve immediately with the cotton candy sticks, but keep in mind- cotton candy, once exposed to air, hardens quickly. It's best to make the cotton candy sticks immediately before serving.

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