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    Home » Recipes » Cupcakes Recipes

    Pinata Cupcakes (with Sprinkles Inside)

    Published: Jan 28, 2021 · Modified: Jan 30, 2023 by Priya Maha

    Jump to Recipe
    Cupcake cut into 2, showing showing blue sprinkles filling

    Pinata cupcakes are much fun cupcakes to make. With a simple vanilla cupcakes base, these sprinkles inside cupcakes are cored in the center and filled with yummy sprinkles. The cupcake tops are then covered with frosting and decorated with more sprinkles to make delicious and fun cupcakes.

    The sprinkles I have used on these pinata cupcakes are in 2 shades of blue plus some gold ones. This is a custom-created mix of sprinkles and I colored the blue ones on my own (I purchased the white ones and colored them in 2 different shades of blue. Click here to read how I colored them). The gold ones are store-bought. I mixed all three colors together for this combination of the blue-gold colors.

    Cupcake cut into 2, showing showing blue sprinkles filling.
    Piñata cupcakes - Perfect cupcakes with a little fun surprise

    A note of caution with gold and silver dragees - most of these are often very hard to bite and can sometimes hurt your teeth, so choose your sprinkles wisely!

    Table of contents

    • How to Make
      • Ingredients
      • Mixing the batter
      • Making the buttercream
      • Assembling and decorating the cupcakes
    • Notes
      • Why you should not fill the casings full with batter when baking?
      • Can you use normal cupcake casings?
      • Choice of sprinkles
      • Can you make these pinata cupcakes with other cupcakes recipe?
      • How to store the cupcakes?
    • Like this easy recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out
    • Recipe (Printable)

    How to Make

    Ingredients

    The cupcakes are made using my butter pound cake recipe, baked in muffin casings. The ingredients are :

    • Butter
    • Granulated sugar (caster sugar)
    • Self-raising flour + baking powder + salt
    • Eggs
    • Milk
    • Vanilla Extract

    The topping and filling on the other hand consists of:

    • Buttercream
    • Sprinkles – I used a combination of dark blue, light blue and gold for these cupcakes. I colored the blue ones myself, out of white (click here to learn how I colored my sprinkles). The gold ones are store-bought. I mixed all the colors together in a small bowl. The gold ones are in a lesser quantity while the blues were of equal quantity. I did not want the gold to overpower the blue color, hence I used them in a much lesser quantity. 

    You would also need the following tools to decorate these pinata cupcakes:

    • Wilton star piping tip 2D for the rosettes on top of each cupcake.
    • Disposable piping bags

    Mixing the batter

    These cupcakes are made using the creaming method, where the butter and sugar are creamed first before all the other ingredients are added in.

    • To start with, place the sugar in a large bowl.
    • Add butter and cream both until they turn light and fluffy on medium speed with an electric mixer. This should take a good 2 minutes of medium-high speed. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure the butter is all well creamed.
    • Next, add the eggs. Add them one at a time, and beat them well.
    • Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the creamed mixture. Fold these dry ingredients in three batches. Alternate them with milk.
    • Finally, add vanilla and mix well.
    • Scoop the cupcake batter into prepared cupcake liners. Fill each casing until about two thirds full.
    • Bake the cupcakes at 170 degrees Celsius for 15 to 20 minutes.
    • Let the cupcakes cool completely before assembling and frosting.

    Making the buttercream

    • Measure butter into a bowl. Cream well.
    • Sift in the powdered sugar and cream until the buttercream turns light and fluffy.
    • Add vanilla mix until well combined. If the icing is too sift, add some milk and beat well.

    Assembling and decorating the cupcakes

    Using a piping tip to press in the center of a cupcake.
    • Core the center of each cupcake. Use a corer if you have one, or simply use a butter knife or a paring knife to cut out a small hole in the center of the cupcake. You don't need a very sharp knife. If you need guide in cutting the holes, use the back of a large piping tip to mark the holes.
    Using a jam knife to core.
    • Once the marking is in place, remove the tip and cut out a hole using a jam knife right to the bottom (taking care not to rip the bottom of the cupcake casing with the jam knife – and this is also why I am using a jam knife instead of a kitchen knife).
    A cored cupcake with buttercream filling.
    • Next, fill the hole with a bit of buttercream.
    • The idea is to just cover the bottom of the pinata cupcake, as such there is no need to pipe too much, suffice if it covers the hole at the bottom.
    Center filled with blue sprinkles.
    • Next, fill the hole up with the sprinkles mix all the way to the top of the cupcake.
    Cupcake with a buttercream topping.
    • And then cover the hole (top of the sprinkle filling) with buttercream, along with the entire cupcake top. You can just cover the hole and not bother with the rest of the cupcake, but I prefer a flat surface to pipe my buttercream rosettes, so I covered the tops of the cupcakes with a flat layer of buttercream.
    White buttercream rosette piping.
    • Next is the rosette swirls. Using Wilton tip #2D, pipe one large rosette swirl on each of the pinata cupcake.
    White buttercream rosette top and blue sprinkles.
    • And for the finishing touch, decorate the top of your cupcake with the same sprinkles mix used to fill them. You don’t have to add too much or else the pretty rosette underneath will be covered. Suffice if they are sparsely dropped on the pinata cupcakes.

    Notes

    Why you should not fill the casings full with batter when baking?

    • When filling the cupcakes casings, make sure not to fill them with batter until the top. Suffice if each casing is filled about two-thirds full. The cupcakes rise well during baking, so it is important that you leave some room for the batter to rise and to avoid it from overflowing.

    Can you use normal cupcake casings?

    • I used muffin cups to bake my cupcakes, but you can certainly use cupcake casings.
    • Do take note, however, that depending on the size of your cupcakes, you would need to adjust the baking time accordingly.

    Choice of sprinkles

    • I used a combinate blue and gold sprinkles for this pinata cupcakes recipe.
    • You can use any other combination you like. You can use sprinkles in the theme color of your party (be it a birthday party or a baby shower party) or any other of your favorite sprinkles combination.
    • You can also choose to use small candies in making these pinata cupcakes. Simply add some mini M&M or even chocolate chips into the cored cupcake centers, either with a sprinkle mix or own their own.

    Can you make these pinata cupcakes with other cupcakes recipe?

    • Yes, you can. You can use this idea on any of your favorite cupcake recipe to make your own pinata cupcakes.
    • Use your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe or even chocolate cupcakes recipe and pair them with your favorite vanilla frosting or even cream cheese frosting.

    How to store the cupcakes?

    • These pinata cupcakes (without the filling and frosting) last for a good 4 to 5 days at room temperature. Keep them in an airtight container to ensure they remain moist. Assemble and decorate them right before serving to ensure the sprinkles do not bleed from contact with the frosting.
    • If you wish to keep the cupcakes longer, keep them refrigerated. Keep them covered to avoid them from becoming dry. Bring the cupcakes to room temperature before serving. The cupcakes are best eaten at room temperature.

    Like this easy recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out

    • How to Color Sprinkles the Easy Way
    • Sprinkles Cupcakes Decorating
    • Funfetti Cupcakes
    • Layered Cupcakes
    • Happy Birthday Cupcakes - Elegant Cupcakes for Mom
    • Cupcakes for Christmas - An Easy Decorating Idea

    Recipe (Printable)

    Here is the full printable version of my pinata cupcakes recipe.

    Cupcake cut into half, with the center filled with blue and gold sprinkles

    Pinata Cupcakes

    Pretty blue pinata cupcakes with a lovely combination of blue and gold surprise sprinkles on the inside. A cool idea for baby shower cupcakes!
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Pinata Cupcakes
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Decorating Time: 45 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
    Yield: 10 cupcakes
    Author: Priya Maha
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Metric - US Customary

    Ingredients

    • 100 g castor sugar
    • 100 g butter
    • 2 eggs
    • 100 g self-raising flour
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
    • 4 tablespoon milk
    • a pinch salt

    Frosting & Filling

    • Buttercream
    • Sprinkles
    Metric - US Customary

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 170 °Celsius.
    • Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
    • In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Fold in the sifted ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with milk, starting and ending with flour.
    • Fold in the vanilla extract and give the batter a good mix.
    • Pour batter into baking cups until they are about two thirds full.
    • Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes (depending on the size of the casing you use) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out without any wet batter sticking to it.
    • Remove the cupcakes from oven and let them cool completely before decorating.
    • To decorate the cupcakes, core the center of each cupcake. For uniformly-sized holes, you can use the back of a large piping tip to mark the circles. Use a jam knife to cut the hole out.
    • Fill the hole with a little buttercream. Top with the sprinkles and cover the hole with more buttercream.
    • Spread a layer of buttercream all over the top of the cupcakes and pipe a large rosette on top of each cupcake.
    • Sprinkles the tops sparsely with more sprinkles.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 163.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.7g | Protein: 2.6g | Fat: 9.3g | Saturated Fat: 5.5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 54.8mg | Sodium: 97.4mg | Potassium: 33mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 10.4g | Vitamin A: 307.3IU | Calcium: 21.6mg | Iron: 0.3mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @decorated_treats or tag #decoratedtreats!

    And that’s pretty much my pinata cupcakes decorating idea. These pinata cupcakes are a great idea for gender reveals or even baby showers too!

    Cupcake cut into half, with the center filled with blue and gold sprinkles.
    Piñata cupcake recipe - Fun cupcake idea

    Happy baking 🙂

    More Cupcakes Recipes

    • Cinnamon Streusel Muffins (Easy & Moist)
    • Orange Ginger Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting - Easy and Super Moist
    • Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream
    • Triple Chocolate Cupcakes (from Scratch)

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