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Snow Cone Cupcakes

These Snow Cone Cupcakes bring the fun and colorful flavors of a classic snow cone to a cupcake! With rainbow-colored frosting that mirrors the icy, fruity goodness of a snow cone, these cupcakes are a festive and refreshing treat for your 4th of July celebrations. Topped with mini cones and rainbow sprinkles, they’re as fun to look at as they are to eat!
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Ingredients
  

For the Cupcakes:

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup whole milk

For the Frosting:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream or milk, to adjust consistency
  • Red blue, and yellow gel food coloring
  • Rainbow sprinkles for decoration
  • Mini cones optional, for topping

Instructions
 

Preheat the Oven:

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Make the Cupcake Batter:

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
  • Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk, mixing until smooth.

Bake the Cupcakes:

  • Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Frosting:

  • Beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and heavy cream (or milk), and beat until the frosting is fluffy and smooth.
  • Divide the frosting into three bowls.
  • Add red food coloring to one, blue food coloring to another, and leave the third bowl as-is for the white layer.

Pipe the Frosting onto the Cupcakes:

  • Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in layers. Start with the red frosting on the bottom, followed by the white layer, and finish with the blue frosting on top. You can either pipe the layers separately or swirl them together for a marbled effect.
  • For extra snow cone authenticity, top each cupcake with a mini cone and finish off with some rainbow sprinkles for that extra pop of color.

Chill and Serve:

  • Let the cupcakes chill in the fridge for about 1 hour to allow the frosting to set properly. Once chilled, the cupcakes are ready to be served.