The most fun and festive birthday cupcakes that are perfect for your special celebration! This sweet treat is simple to make and loaded with sprinkles and a fun “balloon” lollipop topper!
Make them for your kid’s classroom party, your co-worker, a bake sale, or anyone who loves a delicious cupcake! I can promise you that no matter where you bring them, they are sure to light up the room!
But can I tell you why I really love these birthday cupcakes so much? You can make them in two minutes or two hours, depending on how much time you want to put into them. Want to make the cupcakes and frosting from scratch? Go for it! Need a quick way to jazz up store-bought cupcakes? Just top with “balloons!”
I originally shared these balloon cupcakes in 2015 and they are still some of my favorite cupcakes I’ve ever made — and I’ve made a lot of fun cupcakes over the years (ahem, Mickey Mouse Cupcakes!). I don’t bake very much anymore (I leave that to Caroline), but this post deserved a refresh.
Birthday Cupcakes Ingredients
- Cake Mix: You have a few options here. You can make your cupcakes from scratch, buy them already frosted from the grocery store, or use a boxed cake mix! And you can get as wild as you want with the flavor. Personally, I think you can never go wrong with funfetti!
- Frosting Ingredients: If you want to home-make your frosting, you’ll need salted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, cream or milk. You can also buy a jar of frosting too!
- Frosting Supplies: Items you’ll need for homemade frosting include a Wilton #12 Decorating Tip and Wilton Disposable Decorating Bags
- Cupcake Wrappers: You’re going to use two wrappers per cupcake, so purchase your quantity accordingly.
- Nonpareils Sprinkles
- Dum Dums: Sometimes these can be hard to find. After striking out at several grocery stores, I considered dumping the bowl of dum dums in my purse at my kids pediatrician’s office…but ultimately ordered them from Amazon.
- Ribbon: Optional but cute! You’ll use this to tie around the dum dums.
Sprinkle Disk Tutorial
But first, a note about the frosting. I will gladly outsource the cake mix to a box (especially if I’m baking gluten-free), but homemade frosting is not the corner I like to cut. Homemade frosting is easier to work with, tastes noticeably different than frosting from the jar, and is easy to whip up. However, if you’re pressed for time, you can usually find freshly made frosting in the bakery of your grocery store!
Step 1: Frost your cupcakes.
To create the sprinkle disk on top of the cupcake, I use two layers of icing.
Start by piping a flat even layer on top of the cupcake, working from the outside in. Then add a smaller disk of icing on top of the first layer, again working from the outside in. It doesn’t have to look perfect, you’re going to smash the cupcakes into some sprinkles in a minute anyway…
Step 2: Dip your cupcakes into a plate of sprinkles.‘
Like so…
Step 3: Insert 3 dum dum lollipops into your cupcake & Tie A bow
You can tie a bow around just one of the lollipops.
Birthday Cupcakes
The most perfect birthday cupcakes that are simple to create and loaded with sprinkles and a fun “balloon” lollipop topper! Use homemade cupcakes or storebought!
Ingredients
- 1 Box cake mix (plus eggs, oil, water, etc)
- Cupcake wrappers
- Sprinkles
- Dum Dum lollipops
For the Frosting
- 2 sticks salted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-5 teaspoons cream or milk
- Wilton #12 Decorating Tip
- Disposable Decorating Bag
- Ribbon
Instructions
- Bake cupcakes according to package directions. Let cool completely.
- Make the buttercream frosting: In a large mixing bowl whip the butter. Slowly add in 2 cups of powdered sugar. Mix until well combined. Add vanilla and 1 more cup of powdered sugar and continue mixing. If your frosting is too thick, you can add cream or milk 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach desired consistency. Add in last cup of powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add more or less milk depending on the consistency. You want the frosting to be thick and creamy.
- Add your tip to decorating bag and fill with frosting. Frost your cupcakes. To create the sprinkle disk on top of the cupcake, I used two layers of icing. Start by piping a flat even layer on top of the cupcake, working from the outside in. Then add a smaller disk of icing on top of the first layer, again working from the outside in.
- In a small dish or plate, add sprinkles. Dunk the cupcake upside down in your bowl of sprinkles, applying a bit of pressure to flatten the top.
- Tie a ribbon around your lollipops and insert into your cupcakes!
These are so cute! Perfect treat for a party! I will definitely be making these in the future!!
ahh these are so cute! xo jillian – cornflake dreams
These are darling and your instructions make them so doable!! Now I'm anxious to find an excuse to make them 🙂
I love how cute these are 🙂 and sometimes I've considered just dumping candy in my purse whenever we've been at the doctors too many times in one month.liz jo @ sundays with sophie
Adorable! You must be the mom everyone wants to set up play dates with. They will miss you and your cupcakes. Good luck going back to work. That umbilical cord is pretty long!
I LOVE these. Saving them for a future party!
They are so cute!! Also, you considering dumping the whole bowl in your purse made me LOL!! So funny, and not unreasonable! 🙂
Oh these are adorable! Nice work girlfriend! I laughed out loud at the dumping in the bowl comment too- I counted on L's 12 month well check up and we'd been to the peds office 27 times since birth. Ughhhh. (ours were mostly ear infections too… good old tubes fixed that!)
I am a big fan of mixing boxed cupcakes with homemade icing. I love the idea of two different layers of icing. I have never thought of that!!
I love the pics of food! Delicious and the kids are so darn cute!
These cupcakes are seriously too cute. I just pinned them 🙂 what a great idea!
That is such a cute and fun idea! I love how your cupcakes turned out! I will have to remember this for future cupcake making occasions! 🙂
These are ADORABLE! I died laughing imagining you dumping the entire dum-dum bowl into you purse at the ped's office, lol! Pinned for future reference:)
Super super cute!!
Love these! Thanks so much for sharing!- Katehttp://www.kateisgreatblog.com
Pinning this! These are so adorable! Linds @ Not A Mom
SO SO SO cute!
this is SO cute!
LOVE these – so cute and so clever! x
LOL at the idea of you dumping these in your purse!!! Seriously, these are AMAZING! You are so crafty!
Such a fun idea for decorating cupcakes! I love it!
yay! thank you!