This little cupcake is an explosion of color and sweetness — playful, joyful, and perfect for a celebration. It looks like a tiny party wrapped in frosting, sprinkles and tiny treats, and it made me smile the moment I saw it.
I didn’t design this one myself. It’s from my friend Nick Makrides’ gorgeous book Sugar Rebels. If you follow creative bakers on social media, you probably know him as TheScranLine — he’s known for creating spectacular combinations of colors, textures and flavors. His work is full of whimsical ideas, and this cupcake was irresistible.
The book showcases lots of imaginative desserts, and as I flipped through it, I found the Sundae Fundae cupcake and knew immediately I wanted to make it. The bright shades and playful toppings are exactly my kind of thing.
Here’s how I approached decorating them, followed by the full recipe and instructions.
Start by baking vanilla cupcakes, tinting the batter a fun color — I used teal/turquoise. The colored cakes add to the overall whimsical effect and peek through the liners for extra visual interest.
Make a batch of American buttercream and divide it. I left most of it vanilla and tinted part of it a punchy pink so the frosting would have contrast and a sundae-like look.
To create the rippled, ice-cream-style scoop, pipe or place both colors of buttercream into a deep bowl, press plastic wrap over the top to smooth it, and chill until firm. When the frosting is cold and slightly set, you can scoop it with a large 2½-inch scoop; the result resembles a scoop of soft-serve with pretty color ripples.
Put a big scoop of that chilled frosting on each cupcake. For a shiny finish and to help attach decorations, drizzle melted candy coating or tinted ganache over the top. I used teal candy wafers I already had on hand to match the cake color.
The best part is embellishing: cover the sides and tops with tiny cookies, sprinkles, marshmallows and other small candies. It’s playful and allows you to use a mix of textures and pastel tones.
I even added miniature ice cream cones. To make those, I trimmed regular waffle cones down to about 2 inches using a serrated knife. With reserved vanilla buttercream I piped a small swirl into each tiny cone, sprinkled them with nonpareils and topped them with a jumbo heart sprinkle.
Use a bit of melted candy coating as edible glue to attach marshmallows, cookies and cones to the sides and top of each cupcake. Press gently and let the coating set so the decorations stay in place.
Finish each cupcake with pastel confetti sprinkles, a small piped dollop of reserved vanilla frosting, and a drained maraschino cherry. For extra flair, tuck a striped paper straw into a few of them and slide a pink wafer cookie into the back for a playful accent.
The teal-striped straws and bright accents make these cupcakes feel like mini sundaes, and they’re incredibly cheerful to look at.
They’re definitely adorable close up — the colors, textures and little details all come together to make a whimsical treat that’s fun to give and fun to receive.
These cupcakes are bright, cheery and playful — the kind of baking project that makes you smile while you decorate.
Sundae Fundae Cupcakes
30 minutes
20 minutes
1 hour
1 hour 50 minutes
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 430g (15 oz) all-purpose flour
- 265 g (9 1/2 oz) superfine sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 125 g (4 1/2 oz/1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 375 ml (12-1/2 fl oz/1-1/2 cups) whole milk
- 125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 drops turquoise gel food coloring
- 4 drops white gel food coloring
- American Buttercream (make two batches of the below for 20 cupcakes)
American Buttercream (make two batches of the below for 20 cupcakes)
- 500 g (1 lb. 2 oz/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
- 500 g (1 lb. 2 oz/4 cups) confectioners’ sugar
- 2-4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
- 6 drops pink gel food coloring
- 1 teaspoon raspberry, strawberry or cotton candy flavoring
- Decorations (see below)
Decorations
- 20 waffle ice cream cones
- 20 red heart sprinkles
- confetti sprinkles
- non-pareils
- 2 cups Lucky Charms marshmallows
- 10 pink wafer cookies, halved diagonally
- 20 maraschino cherries, well drained
- 8 oz candy wafers (tint as desired)
- Striped straws, cut in half
Instructions
- Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Line two cupcake trays with paper liners.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the softened butter and mix on low with a stand mixer until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Beat in the eggs, then add the milk, vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla and food coloring. Mix on low until combined, scrape down the bowl and mix for another 20 seconds.
- Fill each liner about three-quarters full using an ice cream scoop. Bake 18–20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
- Make the frosting: Beat the softened butter on low then high for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla on low, then increase speed and beat until smooth. Add milk a teaspoon at a time if needed.
- Divide about three-quarters of the frosting into two bowls. Tint one portion pink and flavor it if desired; leave the other portion plain. Reserve the remaining frosting for filling cones and finishing the cupcakes.
- Pipe squiggles of pink and plain frosting into a deep bowl, press plastic wrap over the top and chill for 30 minutes so the frosting firms up for scooping.
- Trim waffle cones to roughly 2 inches tall. Using half of the reserved frosting, pipe a swirl into each mini cone, add a heart sprinkle and nonpareils, then chill them upright until set.
- Use a 2½-inch scoop to portion the chilled, rippled frosting and place a scoop on each cupcake.
- Drizzle melted candy wafers over the frosting and allow to set. Tint white wafers if you want specific colors.
- Insert a pink wafer cookie toward the back of each cupcake. Attach cones and marshmallows to the sides with a dab of melted candy wafers, holding until set.
- Top with confetti sprinkles, press them gently so they adhere, pipe a final dollop of vanilla frosting on top and finish with a drained maraschino cherry.
- Add a striped straw for extra whimsy if you like.
Nick’s original version suggests coring the cupcakes to add extra marshmallows inside, which is a fun surprise, but I skipped that step so the vanilla cupcake flavor would come through more clearly. He uses a reverse creaming method that produces a tender, not overly sweet crumb — a great base for all the bright toppings.
I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did. For more creative and colorful baking ideas, check out Sugar Rebels by Nick Makrides — the book is full of playful projects and inspiration for turning sweets into eye-catching treats.