Fluffy vanilla, gluten free cupcakes loaded with sprinkles, topped with my favourite whipped vanilla buttercream and even more sprinkles. These Funfetti Cupcakes are the perfect way to celebrate my (or your) birthday!
It’s my birthday!! Yay! Today I turn 21 *ahem* plus 10 years *ahem*!
I was not particularly thrilled about turning 30 last year, but this last year turned out to be pretty awesome. I started a new job, some really awesome new people came into my life, I moved to a really gorgeous area of London, and I’ve baked some delicious treats and mixed some amazing cocktails. That’s a pretty good year by my books!
My crazy Rainbow Lollipop Cake for my 30th Birthday
Every year I like to bake myself a birthday cake that I can share with you lovely readers. It’s always a lot of fun and it means I get to eat birthday cake a few weeks early – I mean I eat cake all year round, have you seen my blog?! But it feels more special when the word “birthday” is in front of it! Last year I made the ultimate fun cake, the Rainbow Lollipop Birthday Cake, it was Willy Wonka inspired and full of colour – that cake went down so well I ended up making it again for my boss’s daughter’s 2nd birthday party!
My 29th Birthday Cake – The Elvis Cake!
The year before I made the Elvis Cake, this wasn’t as colourful but boy was it yummy! Banana cake with peanut butter frosting, fried bananas and candied bacon – plus lots of bourbon! So good! This year’s birthday is a little more toned down I guess, not quite so over the top – in fact, not a cake at all, but cupcakes! Funfetti Cupcakes! Funfetti cupcakes are just so much fun, I’ve wanted to make them for the blog for a long time but it just never happened. So when it came to deciding what to make for my birthday cake, funfetti cupcakes seemed like a very good choice!
One of my biggest achievements this last year was learning how to bake gluten free! I was not at all happy about this challenge, but my body demanded it and I triumphed in the end! Gluten free baking still has it’s challenges, it took me four attempts to get something that even resembled a vanilla cupcake! I am glad I persisted though because I ended with light, fluffy cupcakes that are totally delicious. Just as good as the glutened version and a million times better than any box mix! The funfetti cupcakes are my first gluten free birthday cake, but they certainly won’t be the last!
There’s whole butt-load of sprinkles in these funfetti cupcakes – just the way it should be! As well as stirring them through the cupcake batter, I also stirred them through the frosting – the more sprinkles, the better, right? You will want to use rainbow jimmies/sprinkles and not non-pareils (aka hundreds-and-thousands) as they will bleed into the batter – not what you want! The sprinkles are what turn these delicious vanilla cupcakes into magical birthday funfetti cupcakes – so they are important! Sprinkles are serious business, y’all!
The frosting is my tried and true whipped vanilla frosting – it’s so thick, fluffy, and delicious, I could eat it with a spoon. The trick is to whip the butter by itself for about 8 minutes, until it is almost white. To get the thick and creamy texture, we add double (heavy) cream – so good! It pipes beautifully too, not a crack in sight! I favour the large star tip for cupcakes usually, but for my birthday funfetti cupcakes, I decided to go for a big ice cream swirl – and I think it looks really fun! And, of course, the frosting is piled high – I don’t know any other way to do it!
Gluten Free Funfetti Cupcakes
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 12 cucpakes
Fluffy, vanilla gluten free cupcakes loaded with sprinkles and topped with my favourite whipped vanilla buttercream
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 3/4 cup (225g) gluten free all purpose/plain flour blend*
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarb)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp xantham gum ONLY IF your gluten free flour blend does not already contain xantham gum.
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) white sugar (caster sugar)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk**
- 2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (80g) rainbow sprinkles
For the frosting
- 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 cups (530g) confectioners/icing sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy/double cream
- 1 1/2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (40g) raimbow sprinkles
- 2 tbsp more sprinkles for decorating (approx amount)
Instructions
To make the cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a 12 count cupcake/muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xantham gum (if using) in a bowl, and lightly whisk to combine. Set aside
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or an electric handheld beater, beat the butter on a medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth and pale. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Turn the speed down to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate between each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract to the butter milk.
- Turn the speed down to it's lowest setting and add 1/3 of the flour mix to the batter, and beat until just combined. Add 1/2 the buttermilk and beat on low to combine.
- Add another 1/3 of the flour mix, beat on low, then the remaining half of the buttermilk. Followed by the last 1/3 of the flour mix. Beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Stir in the sprinkles by hand, gently so they don't bleed into the batter.
- Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases, filling 3/4 full.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, until a tooth pick comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the pan for 5 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting:
- Put the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment (you can also use a handheld electric beater but it takes a while), beat on a high speed until it has turned almost white - this takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes. It's worth the wait!
- Add the sugar, cream and vanilla and beat on low for 30 seconds to combine (this helps prevent an icing sugar cloud!).
- Turn the speed up to high and beat until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the sprinkles and stir to combine.
- Pipe onto your cooled cupcakes and add more sprinkles on top (do this immediately so the sprinkles stick to the frosting)
Notes
*I used Doves gluten free flour blend, you can use your favourite brand or your homemade blend.
**To easily make your own buttermilk, add 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice to your measuring jug, then fill up to the 1/2 cup with regular milk. Stir and leave to sit for about 5 minutes. It will slightly curdle.
Cupcakes will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days, bring to room temperature before eating
Courses Dessert
Happy Birthday!! Beautiful cupcakes and hard to believe they are GF. I have made cakes using the GF flour and I could barely tell the difference as well, funfetti is so much fun!
Thank you Suzanne!
With how bad store bought GF bread is (yet to try homemade), I was really expecting everything GF I bake to be a failure – so glad you can barely tell the difference!
I love these! For many reasons but the fact that they’re gf puts them into my “must bake” category. Which you know is limited because, well, my baking skills are limited. Also, my thirties were really great. I think you can expect many many good times ahead. Happy bday, love.
Thank you, Christine!
First off. . .happy, happy birthday to you. You don’t look a day over 21. 😉 And you really know how to bake yourself a b-day cake. Last years was out of this world and while these little cuppies are far simpler. . .they are equally as exquisite. I can’t get over how light and fluffy they look (and they’re gluten free!!!. . .big congrats on slaying that beast.)
Thank you, Lynn!
The GF baking beast was a hard one, but I think I have him mostly tamed now!
Happy Birthday! 30 was one of my best years, I’m glad it was great for you too! And 31 will be even better! These cupcakes are totally beautiful, I really wish I could reach into the screen and grab one!
Thank you, Meghan! So far 31 looks like a promising year!
Happy belated birthday! A birthday isn’t really a birthday unless there’s some kind of cake…funfetti is the quintessential sign of birthdays and I love how much frosting you used!! Cheers to another great year!
Thank you, Jessica!
I’m all about the hiiiigh frosting to cake ratio!
Great minds think alike:) I just made some vanilla cupcakes with a whipped buttercream too. Though my whipped frosting wasn’t intentional. Nice job on the gluten-free cupcakes. They look fabulous and happy 31 years young!
That’s a great accident! Whipped frosting is the best!
Thank you Lily!
Being in your 30s is a great thing! Good times ahead! I wouldn’t say 31 I would say the 1st anniversary of your 30th birthday. I’m on my 12th anniversary and still don’t feel a day over 58! Love these cupcakes. Especially fluffy ones that are also gluten-free. Those two words rarely go together in a sentence!
Hahaha I like that! Better yet, 10th anniversary of my 21st!
Thank you Jen!
Getting an awesome gluten free baked goodie is a challenge I’ve not yet faced, and I’m so impressed! These are just lovely 🙂
Happy 10th anniversary of your 21st birthday lovely (albeit a bit late)!
I mastered most things over the last 6 months, but these were my first cupcakes since I realised gluten hated me! Cake is hard!!
Thank you Tamara!! It’s never too late for birthday wishes!
I made these and they came out perfectly. Correction, I was going to make them, but my daughter took over. It was our/ my/ her first experience of GF baking so we were not sure what to expect. They were light, fluffy and totally delicious.
Yay! I’m so glad you guys liked them! Gluten free baking can be a bit daunting at first , but really it’s not all that different from regular baking!
Thank you for letting me know how they turned out for you!
I tried making these but they came out super oily not fluffy. The baking cups are drenched. Maybe too much butter? Very disappointed, as this is my first attempt at GF baking.
Hi Dawn,
I’m sorry to hear these turn out right for you.
If you followed the recipe, and in particular weighed the ingredients, I don’t think too much butter would be the issue as I’ve made this recipe numerous times with no issues.
Without being in the kitchen with you, my guess would be that the batter may have been undermixed or overmixed and the liquid separated during baking. Unfortunately, GF baking is much less forgiving and there’s a fine line between under and over mixed! Once all ingredients are fully incorporated, stop the machine and use a rubber spatula to finish it off if needed.
I hope your next GF baking adventure goes much better!
Is it possible I might have overcreamed the butter? The recipe calls for beating on medium-high for several minutes, which is longer than I usually do it. And I have a pretty powerful stand mixer, so “medium-high” is fast.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t overmix when I added the dry and liquid ingredients to the machine. I had my mixer on the lowest speed and only until just blended.
Not unless the butter was too soft to begin with, but even then, since you’re doing the butter first it can’t really be over mixed. The more you cream the butter, the more air it gets and the lighter your cake should turn out.
Since you didn’t overmix it, my only other suggestion would be the oven was too hot – which can be an issue through no fault of our own when ovens get a bit older, they’re not always at the temp the dial says! If you do a lot of baking and don’t already have one, I definitely recommend getting an oven thermometer so you know exactly what temp it is inside your oven. If you’re sure the oven temp wasn’t the issue then I’m afraid I’m just not sure and can only apologise my recipe didn’t work for you this time. I do hope you’ll give GF baking another shot, it is a bit trickier but once you’ve had a few successes it becomes easier! Good luck!
Thanks! I will definitely give it another shot. I don’t think my oven was too hot, as I had to bake the cupcakes longer than the recipe called for, and they were still a tad “wet.” I measured the ingredients rather than weighing, so next time I’ll get out my scale. Eventually I’ll get it right 🙂
I am sure you will! If you have any questions, just ask!
My friend, Sandi, over at https://www.fearlessdining.com/ is a great resource for all things GF too, she’s been at it a lot longer than me and I’ve learnt a lot from her!