Cotton Candy Cupcakes

The cupcake that brings out the kid in all of us! I’ve always loved cotton candy as long as I can remember. But there is only one way to eat cotton candy, taking little piece by little piece and letting it dissolve on your tongue. Biting and chewing cotton candy is just wrong. Am I right or am I right? My husband knows I hate it so he can’t help but tease sometimes – since apparently it doesn’t bother him to bite into it.
These cupcakes have been on my to do list for probably the last three years. Who knows what took me so long to make them! My kids thought they were the coolest thing ever and they were practically mesmerized. So, in other words if your child has a birthday party coming up, these are the cupcakes to make! But really, if you have your own birthday party coming up, these are the cupcakes to have someone make you :). Let’s be honest we all love cotton candy. Some things never change.

As far as the cotton candy flavoring goes, I used Lorann Cotton Candy flavoring and while it was good it didn’t have an exact cotton candy flavor, so with that said if you come across one that tastes just like the real thing, please do let us know in the comments! You can make them as just a vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream and just decorate them with the cotton candy and and tint the frosting and people will love them just the same. I know I’m totally in love with these! They are soft and fluffy and the buttercream is simply perfect. Cupcake + cotton candy = childhood dream come true.

Ingredients

CUPCAKES

•     1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
•     1 1/4 tsp baking powder
•     1/4 tsp baking soda
•     1 cup sugar
•     3 egg whites
•     1/2 cup milk
•     1/2 cup sour cream
•     3/4 cup salted butter, melted and cooled
•     1 1/2 tsp cotton candy extract or flavor
•     Royal blue/cornflower blue icing color
•     Pink/burgundy icing color

FROSTING

•     1/2 cup butter
•     1 tsp cotton candy extract
•     4 cups powdered sugar
•     1/2 cup shortening
•     Royal blue/cornflower blue icing color
•     Pink/burgundy icing color
•     2–3 tbsp water or cream
•     Cotton candy or cotton candy flavored suckers, for decorating

Instructions

CUPCAKES

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add egg whites, cotton candy extract, sour cream and milk and mix on medium speed just until smooth. Do not over mix.
4. Add butter and mix until smooth.
5. Divide batter evenly between two bowls and die one pink and one blue. I used a mix of two shades of pink and blue icing color, noted above.
6. Fill cupcake liners a little more than half way, adding a little bit of each color to each liner.
7. Bake 18-20 minutes.
8. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.

FROSTING

1. Combine butter and shortening and mix until smooth.
2. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
3. Add cotton candy extract and 1-2 tbsp of water or cream and mix until smooth.
4. Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
5. Add a little more water or cream until desired consistency is reached.
6. Divide icing evenly between two bowls and die one pink and one blue. I used a mix of two shades of pink and blue icing color, noted above.
7. To pipe icing onto cupcakes with dual tone, add pink icing to one piping bag and blue icing to another. Place both piping bags into a third piping bag, fitted with your icing tip. I used Ateco 844, but Wilton 1M would work as well.
8. Top cupcakes with cotton candy or cotton candy flavored suckers. Note that the cotton candy or suckers should added to cupcakes shortly before displaying or serving. If left on the cupcakes in an air tight container, the moisture from the cupcakes will “melt” the cotton candy.

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