These adorable Candy Corn Cupcakes will be snatched up at any Halloween Party you throw. A box cake mix paired with homemade frosting make this an easy fall dessert.

Spooky season is almost upon us! soon we’ll be planning fall harvest parties, hay rides, family bonfires and Halloween parties. This recipe for Candy Corn Cupcakes will fit any and all of those special occasions.

With the ease of a box cake mix, you’ll have these cute multi-colored cupcakes ready in no time.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

Uses the ease of a box cake mix, but made pretty with drops of color.
Homemade white chocolate buttercream. Fluffy and light.
Simply decorated with swirls of buttercream and a candy corn on top.

Key Ingredients

White cake mix: You can also use a vanilla cake mix, but the yellowness of the mix will make the colors more yellow. If you want, you can also make your own homemade white cake.
Food coloring: If you don’t have orange food coloring, you can mix red and yellow. Gel food coloring gives a vibrant color with just a little bit.
Salted butter: Unsalted butter is fine to use, but add in a pinch of salt to help cut through the sweetness.
Powdered sugar: Recipes often call for sifting the powdered sugar. This helps it mix in smoothly. If you have clumps in your powdered sugar (which can happen after the bag has been open awhile), I recommend sifting the flour first.
White chocolate chips: You can use a white chocolate bar or white candy melts. Sometimes white chocolate chips are tricky to melt, so a white chocolate bar may be easier if you are new to melting chocolate.
Vanilla extract: Or vanilla bean paste. I’ve been loving this ingredient lately.
Heavy cream: If you don’t have heavy cream, you can use half and half or whole milk, but you might need to add extra powdered sugar to get the right consistency of frosting. If your frosting isn’t thick enough, it will “melt” once on the cupcakes. Heavy cream is best though for homemade frosting.

Don’t forget the cupcake liners.

3 bowls with cake batter and food coloring

How to Pipe a Cupcake Swirl

Frosting cupcakes is fun to do, but takes some practice. If you have piping bags and tips, use large tips for frosting cupcakes. Wilton 1M or 2D work great. If you don’t have any, you can use plastic baggies and cut a small hole in the corner.

Start in the middle, holding your frosting bag perpendicular to the cupcake, and create a tight spiral, moving towards the outside of the cupcake.

If you want to get creative on these cupcakes you can color the frosting 3 different colors and do one spiral layer of one color, a smaller spiral layer on top, and the final layer on top of that. You’ve got a lot of cupcakes to frost, so get that practice in and have fun.

Storage Instructions

Since these cupcakes don’t have cream cheese, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Then, place them in the fridge for another few days.

You can also freeze these cupcakes: individually wrap them and store for up to 3 months.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

5 from 1 vote

Servings 18

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

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Ingredients

For the Cupcake:

1 box white cake mix (15.25 ounces) (plus ingredients on the back of the box)
yellow food coloring
orange food coloring

For the Frosting:

1 cup salted butter room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup white chocolate chips or candy melts melted
5-6 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream optional
Optional garnishes: candy corn yellow or orange sprinkles

Instructions

Make the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven according to the instructions on the box mix packaging. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. You'll need about 18 liners.
Prepare the white cake mix according to package instructions (I used vegetable oil, water, and egg whites). Evenly separate the cake batter into three separate bowls.
Color one bowl with yellow food coloring and another with orange food coloring (use as much food coloring as needed to achieve your desired color). Leave the last bowl white. You should have one bowl with yellow batter, one with orange batter, and one with white batter.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake liners ¾ of the way full by alternating between the three colors. To match a candy corn, the order goes yellow, orange, then white.
Bake in the oven for instructed time on the box (I did 20 minutes at 350º Fahrenheit) or until the center of the cupcake bounces back when you touch it. Remove from the oven and take cupcakes out of the muffin tin. Set them aside so they can cool off completely.

Make the buttercream:

Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave in 15-20 second increments and stir between each one. Stop when the chocolate is melted, do not overheat or it will seize up. Set aside to cool slightly.
Make the frosting by using a mixer to beat the butter, salt, and vanilla until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
Gradually add the powdered sugar and melted white chocolate to the butter mixture on low speed.
Once incorporated, beat until fully combined, about 5 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, slowly add in 1-2 tablespoons of heavy cream until you have reached your desired consistency.
Pipe frosting on top of cupcakes using Wilton tip 1M or 2D and garnish with candy corn and sprinkles if you'd like.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

The calories shown are based on the recipe making 18 cupcakes, with 1 serving being 1 frosted cupcake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**