Cotton Candy Cupcakes
 
Prep time
Total time
 
These cotton candy cupcakes are so cheerful and fun, and they're perfect for birthdays and showers! The mini cotton candy sticks start to get sticky soon after they're exposed to air, and they probably last a total of 20-30 minutes before they're a sticky mess—so serve them immediately after assembly!
Author:
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 24 cupcakes, baked and cooled
  • 8 cups white buttercream frosting
  • Assorted food coloring
  • Two disposable piping bags
  • 24 lollipop sticks
  • Cotton candy (I used yellow, green, pink, and blue—see Note below)
Instructions
  1. Decide how many different colors of frosting you want, and divide the buttercream into that many bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl and mix until you have vibrant pastel colors.
  2. Use a spatula to spread a thick stripe of each color up the inside of a disposable piping bag. If it helps, you can stick the bag inside a tall glass before filling it, to give it more strength and structure. Repeat with the remaining colors until your bag is full of vertical stripes of frosting.You will have too much frosting for one piping bag, so use about half of each color to fill this one bag, and then fill a second bag the same way. Twist the bag closed at the top, and snip off the tip so that there is a ½-inch opening at the bottom.
  3. Pipe generous swirls of multi-colored frosting on top of each cupcake. When your first frosting bag runs out, snip the tip off the second bag and continue until all of the cupcakes are frosted. Once they're frosted, set aside for a moment.
  4. To make the miniature cotton candy sticks, take a generous pinch of cotton candy and press it around the top of a lollipop stick. Don't be afraid to really squish it together, so that it adheres to the stick. Now, take more cotton candy and gently press it around the top, being carefully not to compact it so that it remains light and fluffy. Continue building layers of cotton candy until it is the size you want. Repeat with more sticks and candy until you have as many as you need.
  5. Stick the cotton candy sticks down through the frosting and into the cupcakes. Serve and enjoy immediately!
Notes
You will need 6-8 cups of cotton candy, total, for this project. This will be enough to make 24 mini cotton candy sticks, plus provide extra in case of mistakes. If you use four colors like I did, you will have plenty of candy left over for snacking or for other projects!
Recipe by Oh Nuts Blog at https://www.ohnuts.com/blog/cotton-candy-cupcakes/