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Mardi Gras King Cake Cupcakes with Free Printable Cupcake Toppers by Pineapple Paper Co.
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Mardi Gras King Cake Cupcakes

Perfect for Mardi Gras celebrations--and when you don't have HOURS to make a traditional King Cake!
Servings 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cup cake flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cup milk

For the filling:

  • 1/2 pkg cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

For the glaze:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp milk (more or less to achieve consistency)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with desired paper liners.
  • Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.
  • With an electric mixer on medium-high, cream butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of the bowl as necessary. Add vanilla and incorporate. Set mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and milk in alternating batches, combining after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  • Using a hand scoop, fill the lined cups 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
  • Make filling: combine softened cream cheese, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Leave sit for a few minutes, as this will help the brown sugar to combine with the cream cheese.
  • When the cupcakes are completely cooled, use a cupcake corer or knife to take out a small amount of the center of each cupcake (approx. 1 teaspoon of cupcake, or more depending on how much you like filling!) and fill with cream cheese mixture! Make sure the filling is even with the top of the cupcake, or your glaze won’t cover as evenly.
  • Make glaze: Put the powdered sugar in a small bowl and add milk slowly, whisking until the glaze will run easily out of a spoon. Be careful with the milk and add less or more until you get the desired consistency!! Dip the top of each cupcake in the glaze to coat lightly.
  • Use sprinkles, nonpareils or colored sugar to decorate the tops of the glazed cupcakes before the glaze thickens (we used purple, yellow, and green nonpareils in a striped pattern to mimic the look of a King Cake!)

Notes

We left nuts out of our cupcake recipe because of tree nut allergies on our guest list. Feel free to add a couple of tablespoons of chopped pecans in the filling if you’d like! Also, we happen to LOVE cream cheese baked in our King Cake (traditionalists get over it!) so check back for the King Cake recipe to try our inspiration for these cupcakes!