These Candy Corn Cupcakes are an easy homemade cupcake recipe colored to look like candy corn! It's a festive Halloween cupcake topped with a vanilla frosting that's made from scratch and a candy corn!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the butter. Beat using a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth.
Add the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition until it forms a dough-like consistency. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding each egg.
Add the Greek yogurt, buttermilk, and vanilla extract to the mixture. Beat on medium speed until just combined.
Divide the cupcake batter into two equal portions (about 2 cups each) in separate bowls.
Add 3 to 5 drops of yellow gel food coloring to one bowl and mix until the batter turns yellow and has no streaks in it
Add 3 to 5 drops of orange gel food coloring to the other bowl and mix until the batter turns orange and has no streaks in it.
Using a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop or a spoon, spoon 1 ½ tablespoons of the yellow batter into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Then add 1 ½ tablespoons of orange batter, spreading it evenly to cover the yellow batter. Each liner should be about ⅔ full.
Place the cupcakes in the preheated oven and bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes in the center of the pan comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth.
Add the powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until the powdered sugar is combined. Turn hand mixer on medium/high speed and beat for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Add the frosting to a disposable piping bag fitted with a large tip.
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe swirls of frosting on top of each cupcake.
Immediately add the yellow and orange sanding sugar, white sugar pearls, and a candy corn.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.