Snow cone cupcakes will have your holiday barbecue guests saying OOOH's & AHHH's when placed on the dessert table. These little gems are fun to make & bring out the kid in all who are lucky enough to take a bite. Made with boxed cake mix, this red, white, and blue cupcake are great for holiday picnics!
Holiday cupcakes
I like to make these decorated cupcakes for Flag Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and of course July 4th, because of their red, white, and blue decorations. If put in paper snow cone cups, these would look just like the cold treats you would get from the snow cone truck as a kid!
But really, they can be custom made for any occasion calling for festive colors; one that stands out, in particular, is Mardi Gras Cupcakes or what about Halloween?
Wouldn't these make adorable candy corn cakes??! I say YES!
Snowcone cupcakes
If you are ready to break out your inner Yankee Doodle Dandy
, then these little cakes are for you! Made with a boxed cake mix like our orange crush cake and lemon pound cake, this cupcake recipe is easy to put together with just a few drops of food coloring and colored sprinkles!
Ingredients for cupcakes
- 1 box white cake mix – I really like to use Duncan Hines cake mixes because they bake up so soft and tender.
- 1 tub of vanilla frosting This can be any brand you like, just be sure it is vanilla to make sure colored sprinkles pop!
- Red and blue food coloring Important colors to make the blue and red flag stripes in the cupcake!
- Cake decorating bags – Having decorating bags makes piping cake batter so much easier!
- Red, white and blue sugar sprinkles- Important to get sugar sprinkles if you want your cupcakes to look like snow cones with snow cone syrup! Blue sugar sprinkles, red sugar sprinkles, and white sugar sprinkles.
- Paper cupcake liners– work great for snow cone cupcakes, especially if it is hard to find the paper snow cone cups.
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– work great for snow cone cupcakes, especially if it is hard to find the 
. How to make snow cone cupcakes
- Preheat oven and prepare cake batter mix according to directions.
- Separate prepared batter evenly into three bowls.
- In one bowl of batter, add 3-4 drops of red food coloring. Stir well. If the batter is too “pink”, continue to add one drop of color at a time until you reach the desired color. I went just a few shades darker than pink.
- Repeat with blue food coloring in the second separated batter.
- You should now have 3 bowls of the batter; 1 plain, 1 red, and 1 blue.
. Stir well. If the batter is too “pink”, continue to add one drop of color at a time until you reach the desired color. I went just a few shades darker than pink.
in the second separated batter.
- Place 3 disposable cake decorating bags (I have a box of 20 made by Wilton-you can find at Michaels or Walmart) in 3 separate tall glasses, such as pint glasses. Fold tops of decorating bags over the rim of a glass and fill each bag with the prepared batter.
- Twist the top of the bag and secure with a twist-tie. When all are complete, lay on counter side-by-side. Using masking tape or scotch tape, secure bags about 1-inch from the bottom like I have pictured above. This makes filling the cupcake tin SO much easier!
- Line baking tin with cupcake paper.
- Snip tip ends off bags and fill cupcake cups 2/3 full with batter.
(I have a box of 20 made by Wilton-you can find at Michaels or Walmart) in 3 separate tall glasses, such as 
. Fold tops of decorating bags over the rim of a glass and fill each bag with the prepared batter.
Bake according to directions. Cool completely.
How to decorate snow cone cupcakes
I found this technique so much easier to decorate fast and efficiently!
- You will need your red, white, and blue colored sugar sprinkles.
- Pour sprinkles on three separate plates. This will be easier than sprinkling on top, trust me.
- Spread frosting over the middle “white” section first. Roll cupcake front to back in white sprinkles.
- Next, spread frosting over the red or blue section and roll cake in matching colored sprinkles.
- Finish with the last section and roll in matching color.
I used a boxed cake mix because it was easy, but you can most certainly substitute your favorite from-scratch vanilla cake recipe!
Perfect 4th of July dessert recipe
Snow cone cupcakes are perfect for a 4th of July backyard barbecue! In fact, this recipe is part of our 5 Easy Recipes for July 4th BBQ that is full of other fantastic recipes for summer parties. Looking for another fun summer cupcake recipe? Try this delicious looking strawberry filled cupcakes. YUM!
If you enjoy making this fun & delicious Snow Cone Cupcakes recipe, please help me share the love by sharing on Facebook and Pinterest!
And be sure to tag us @eatpicks- #eatpicks if you share on Instagram!
Snow Cone Cupcakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 tub of vanilla frosting
- Red and blue food coloring
- Cake decorating bags
- Red white and blue sugar sprinkles
- Paper cupcake liners
Instructions
- Preheat oven and prepare cake batter mix according to directions.
- Separate prepared batter evenly into three bowls.
- In one bowl of batter, add 3-4 drops of red food coloring. Stir well. If the batter is too “pink”, continue to add one drop of color at a time until you reach the desired color. I went just a few shades darker than pink.
- Repeat with blue food coloring in second separated batter.
- You should now have 3 bowls of batter; 1 plain, 1 red and 1 blue.
- Place 3 disposable cake decorating bags (I have a box of 20 made by Wilton-you can find at Michaels or Walmart) in 3 separate tall glasses. Fold tops of bags over the rim of a glass. Fill each bag with prepared batter.
- Twist top of the bag and secure with a twist-tie. When all are complete, lay on counter side-by-side. Using masking tape or scotch tape, secure bags about 1-inch from the bottom.
- Line baking tin with cupcake paper.
- Snip tip ends off bags and fill cups 2/3 full with batter.
- Bake according to directions. Cool completely.
- You will need sprinkles…
- Pour sprinkles on three separate plates. This will be easier than sprinkling on top, trust me.
- Spread frosting over middle “white” section first. Roll cupcake front to back in white sprinkles.
- Next, spread frosting over red or blue section and roll cake in matching colored sprinkles.
- Finish with last section and roll in matching color.
Nutrition
Original post: 7/8/14
Updated post: 6/14/20
These look delicious! Your photos are beautiful, I’m tempted to make them tonight haha.
Thanks Jenny! They are very good- I hope you were able to make them! 🙂