Fun Watermelon Cupcakes with buttercream frosting are perfect for summer gatherings and pool parties. They are colorful, flavorful and easy to make!
Ingredients
¾cupsgranulated sugar
½cupunsalted butter
2eggsat room temperature
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
½cupyogurt
1¼cupsall purpose flour
1teaspoon baking powder
¼teaspoonsalt
green food coloring
Frosting Buttercream:
1cupunsalted buttersoftened
4-5cupspowdered sugar
¼cupheavy cream
2teaspoonspure vanilla extract
3ounceswatermelon Kool-Aid drink mixunsweetened
¼teaspoon salt
red food coloring
¼cupmini chocolate chips
Instructions
Start by preheating the oven to 350°F/180°C. In the meantime, line the muffin pan with green cupcake liners.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter with sugar in a large bowl, until it becomes smooth and lighter in color, about 1-2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time to make sure they are well incorporated in the batter. Add vanilla extract and yogurt to the mixture and mix well, then set aside.
Add about ⅓ of dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix using electric mixer. Add the remaining of dry ingredients and mix until flour is incorporated in the mixture. Do not overmix.
Add green food coloring to get the desired green color.
Fill the muffin liners ½ - ⅔ full with batter and bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before starting decorating.
Prepare watermelon buttercream cupcake frosting by creaming butter in a bowl, then gradually adding powdered sugar and kool-Aid powder. Mix till the frosting is smooth. Add vanilla, heavy cream and salt. Mix till smooth. As watermelon kool aid will not add much color to the frosting, add one drop of red food coloring to get the desired watermelon shade.
Put the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Make a swirl on the top of each cupcake starting at the center until you reach the edge of the cupcake. Then tip more frosting on the base layer in a swirling motion till you reach the center again. Finally, decorate with mini chocolate chips to look like watermelon "seeds".
Notes
Do not overmix the cupcakes batter so they turn out fluffy and moist.
Add more heavy cream to the frosting if needed, to get the right consistency for piping.
Decorate cupcakes with frosting after they have completely cooled down, to avoid the frosting from melting.
You can add any flavor of Kool aid powder to the buttercream frosting that suits your taste or theme better. You can chose raspberry, cherry, pink lemonade and strawberry, to mention a few.