Cupcakes & Trifles

Last updated on June 18th, 2021 at 05:49 pm

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Galaxy Cupcakes – With a Trick! [VIDEO]

Galaxy Cupcakes are made easy with no colored buttercream trick. No more mess and fuss, these Galaxy Cupcakes are super delicious and very easy to make.

These Galaxy Cupcakes are so pretty and tasty, that is perfect for themed parties, and is a hit with kids and adults alike! I am obsessed with the color purple, and I love making Unicorn CupcakesMagic Purple Cake and Purple Muffins.

Galaxy Cupcakes

Galaxy Cupcakes are pretty and mesmerizing, but usually making them can be a long process with many messy bowls, which is not the case here. Introducing you to Galaxy Cupcakes that are a breeze to make and you don’t have to color the buttercream.

You read that right, this buttercream hasn’t been colored at all! I am going to show you an easy trick, that will help you make gorgeous Galaxy Cupcakes mess-free, hassle-free and they will be a hit with kids. These treats are not only pretty and fun to make, but they are simply the BEST cupcakes you can get! Kids and adults love them, and they are great for any occasions. Also, you could use different colors to match your desired theme!

Why You Will Love This Galaxy Cupcake Recipe:

  • Very easy to make with minimal bowls to clean.
  • A great recipe to make with kids.
  • Delicious and gorgeous, these cupcakes will be the highlight of any party!
  • You can make them in your favorite flavors and colors!

If you love gorgeous and delicious cupcakes, check these recipes too:

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Galaxy Cupcakes Recipe Tips:

  • I used my go-to recipe for the cupcake batter, but you can use any recipe that you like. I really like this one, as the cupcakes are moist and soft. You can also use a store-bought cupcake mix and add the gel food color to it.
  • For the best cupcakes and for them to rise nicely in the oven, do NOT over-mix the batter.
  • After you put the cupcakes in the oven, do NOT open the oven door for 15 minutes.
  • When working with gel food color be extra careful, it can easily stain your hands, counter or carpet. Cover the surfaces accordingly. The stain will wash off your hands in about 24 hours, if you want to keep your hands clean, you can wear silicone gloves.
  • When coloring the inside of the bag keep in mind that the thinner the gel, the lighter the color of the frosting will be. I like to pile colors on top of each other, like pink on top of purple, and where it meets and it’s more concentrated it creates black.
  • Also, you can also play with other colors that you like, there is no right or wrong. I like using Violet, Pink and Metallic Silver, but can use shades of dark blue, grey, black, even mix in some edible silver dust.
  • I always recommend that you color a bag, add a little frosting and do a test, this way you will learn first hand if you need to add more color if it should be more concentrated, so a test run is always good when trying a new technique.

Can I add different flavors to the batter?

You can add different flavors to the batter, almond extract, vanilla extract, cherry extract or even lemon are delicious options.

Should I use shorting for the frosting?

When making the buttercream, it has a lot of sugar so it can hold its shape when piped. I do not like the taste of shortening, so I only use butter in my frosting. If you want to use shortening, to create even a stiffer buttercream, replace half of the butter with shortening. The sugar amount stays the same in both cases.

Can I eat the cupcake right away?

Do NOT eat the cupcakes right away, the gel food coloring is very fresh and in some spots more concentrated, so it will easily stain the hands and mouth and if you serve these to kids since the frosting is not settled there is a higher chance to end up with a mess.

Best, refrigerate the cupcakes for one hour before serving and serve them at the table, don’t let kids walk around the house with them.

Tools/Ingredients I used to make the Galaxy Cupcakes Recipe:

Watch Galaxy Cupcakes and Frosting Recipe Video:

Galaxy Cupcake

  • Prep Time30 MIN
  • Cook Time15 MIN
  • Servings 20 cupcakes

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcakes:

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon Metallic Silver Gel Food Color
  • 1/2 teaspoon Midnight Gel Food Color

Frosting:

  • 2 cups butter unsalted, room temperature
  • 8 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • Violet Gel Food Color
  • Rose Pink Gel Food Color
  • Metallic Silver Gel Food Color
  • Edible glitter silver stars

Instructions

Cupcakes:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F degrees and add cupcake liners to a cupcake/muffin pan.
  • To a large bowl add: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • Add milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a mixer bowl and whisk until fully combined, about 1 minute on medium speed.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until well combined. Stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
  • Slowly, with the mixer on low speed, add gel food color and the water to the batter and mix just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.
  • The batter is thin, I find it easier to add it to a pancake dispenser, this makes filling the cupcakes liners much easier.
  • Fill the cupcake liners just a little over half and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs NOT raw batter. In my oven, the cupcakes were perfectly done at the 20 minutes mark. Do NOT open the oven until 15 minutes have passed. Start checking on the cupcakes at the 15 minutes mark. If you are baking mini cupcakes, they may be done in 9-12 minutes, start checking after 9 minutes.
  • Remove the cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 3-5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Frosting:

  • Add butter to a large mixer bowl and mix until smooth.
  • Add 4 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  • Add the vanilla extract and milk, mix until smooth.
  • Add the remaining 4 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Assembling:

  • Start by preparing your work area, gel food color can easily stain your working surface so cover it with parchment paper or plastic wrap.
  • Fix a piping bag with a large star tip, or any other piping tip that you like. Place the bag inside of a tall glass, and slightly turn it inside out at the opening.
  • Add a few drops, about 1/2 teaspoon of gel food color to 3 small bowls, and using 3 different coloring brushes paint the gel food color on the inside of the pastry bag.
  • I recommend overlapping colors in some spots, leaving a few tiny uncolored spots, in some places to add a more concentrated layer. I recommend coloring 2/3 of the pastry bag.
  • Having the bag in a tall glass makes handling it much easier, and also any excess gel food color will drain to the bottom of the glass. Adding the buttercream is also much easier this way.
  • Fill the pastry bag 2/3 with buttercream and secure it with a pastry bag ring/elastic.
  • Pipe a little and dump, as the color will be very concentrated at the tip.
  • Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes and decorate with edible glitter silver stars.
  • Refrigerate cupcakes at least one hour before serving.
  • Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
  • Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

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Comments

(16)
Lane & Holly @ With Two Spoons

Lane & Holly @ With Two Spoons

These are "out of this world" cool!

selene

selene

Could you use regular food coloring brand Mc Cormick? what is the difference if I want to use regular colors? thank you


Catalina Castravet

Catalina Castravet

Regular food coloring is very watery, it won't stick to the bag in the same way. I only do this recipe with gel food coloring, you can try a small batch and see how it works with regular food coloring.

Amanda Bucca

Amanda Bucca

Hi! I was wondering if you recommended specific tools for icing the cupcakes or where to find them? There's so many options (esp on amazon) I just don't know where to start! Your cupcakes are awesome btw! Thanks!


Catalina Castravet

Catalina Castravet

Hi Amanda, I have provided the link in the post to the tools used. please let me know if you are still not sure. thanks

Sarina Kinnunen

Sarina Kinnunen

I loved how you colored the frosting! These cupcakes turned out super cute! i'm planning a galaxy party for my daughter who is turning two.. Can't wait!

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