End of the Rainbow Pot of Gold Cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day
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There really is a treasure waiting for you at the end of your rainbow with these Pot of Gold Cupcakes! The perfect treat to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, they are creative and delicious, and your little leprechauns will love them!
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Pot of Gold Cupcakes
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions, to ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required and understand the steps and timings involved.
What do you find at the end of the rainbow? Well, these Pot of Gold Cupcakes of course!
They’re perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, and a festive dessert to celebrate the Irish holiday.
This easy recipe is made with a box of cake mix, with a little green food coloring added, because, St. Patty!
The cupcakes are topped with creamy frosting (you can use a tub of ready-made stuff if you like) and then finished off with a rainbow candy belt, and little pots of gold made using mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and gold sequin sprinkles!
Make these cupcakes for a party or to take to school or work. Your friends and family will love them!
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
For your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients and equipment needed to make these cupcakes have been listed below and linked to Amazon or other stores if available online. Standard ingredients such as flour or sugar are not listed, as you are likely to have those in your kitchen. The full list with measurements is found in the recipe card.
Cupcakes & Frosting Ingredients
- Box of White Cake Mix – plus the ingredients to make the cake mix, usually eggs, oil, and water.
- Powdered Sugar – also known as Icing Sugar and Confectioner’s Sugar.
- Pure Vanilla Extract – always buy good vanilla as it really does make a flavor difference.
- Green Food Coloring Gel
Decorating Ingredients
- Airhead Xtremes Belts Sweetly Sour – or any kind of rainbow candy belt
- Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Gold Sprinkles – sequins/confetti or sugar pearls both work for these cupcakes
Cupcake Decorating Equipment
- Large Piping Bag – you can use disposable or reuseable, your choice.
- Large Star Tip – for example, Wilton 1M or 2D
Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog! I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. You can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, litres, etc.,).
Pot of Gold Cupcakes Recipe Tips
Cupcake Making Tips
- These cupcakes are made using a box of cake mix, and colored green for St. Patrick’s Day!
- FOOD COLORING! Food coloring is available in various forms. You’re most likely to find liquid coloring in your grocery store, and other types of coloring like gels, pastes, and powders in more specialised cake decorating shops. The cheapest option is liquids, but they can alter the consistency of your frosting and cake batter, so I prefer to use pastes or gels which don’t. A little goes a long way with food coloring gels and you can usually get a much deeper shade than you would with liquids.
- Remember that you can always add more color, but not take it away. Add a little to start with and add more to get the shade required.
- Use your choice of cupcake liners – themed to the cupcakes, plain white or black, or a complimentary color.
- Use an ice cream scoop to equally divide the cupcake mixture between the cupcake liners. Fill them about three-quarters full.
- The cupcakes should be ready in about 20 minutes – test their doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cakes. It should come out clean when the cupcakes are cooked all the way through. Bake for an extra 2 minutes and check again.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Cupcake Frosting Tips
- When making the frosting you want the end result to be creamy, smooth, and to hold a stiff peak. You may have to adjust the amount of powdered sugar and cream slightly to achieve the consistency you need.
- Use a piping bag fitted with a large star tip to pipe the swirl on top of the cupcakes.
- If you feel like you are going to be making a lot of cakes and cupcakes in your future, I think it is worth investing in a set of piping tips so that you know you always have the right ones on hand for a recipe.
- Do not overfill the piping bag with frosting, and make sure you squeeze the frosting down the bag to expel any air bubbles.
- If you are not confident with your piping skills you can practice on some parchment paper first and scoop the frosting back into the bag to use on the cupcakes.
More Cupcake Recipes for St. Patrick’s Day
Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes to make? Check these recipes out next:
- Make These Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day!
- Lucky Unicorn Cupcakes
- Chocolate and Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes
How Do I Make Pot of Gold Cupcakes?
Just check out the recipe card below with full ingredients, and instructions. You can print the card out too (don’t worry, the pics don’t print to save your ink!).
Pot of Gold Cupcakes
There really is a treasure waiting for you at the end of your rainbow with these Pot of Gold Cupcakes!
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 (15.25oz) box of white cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 cup water
- Green food coloring gel
For the Frosting
- 3 cups unsalted butter, softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 5-7 Tbsp heavy whipping cream (double cream)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
For Decoration
- Airhead Xtremes Belts Sweetly Sour
- Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
- Gold sequin edible sprinkles
Instructions
- To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 (or according to box instructions). Line cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners and set them aside.
- Using an electric handheld or stand mixer, place the cake mix, eggs, oil, and water into a large bowl and mix until combined and smooth.
- Add 1-2 drops of green food coloring gel and stir to combine to desired shade.
- Use an ice cream scoop to divide the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
- To make the frosting, use an electric stand or handheld mixer and add the butter, powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla to the bowl.
- Beat on medium speed until creamy and smooth and stiff peaks form.
- Transfer to a large piping bag fitted with an open star tip.
- To decorate the cooked and cooled cupcakes, pipe a swirl of frosting onto each cupcake.
- Pipe a small amount of frosting onto each Reese's Cup.
- Pour the sprinkles into a bowl and dip each frosted Reese's Cup into the sprinkles to cover and create little pots of gold.
- Place the candy pots of gold onto the right side of the frosting as shown.
- Cut the candy belts in half. Bend over to form a rainbow and place it into the frosting so that a "pot of gold" is at the end.
- Enjoy and May the Luck of the Irish Be With Ye!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 437Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 30mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 0gSugar: 29gProtein: 2g
This site uses Nutritionix to provide estimated nutrition. Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
Make It A Meal!
You’ve made the dessert, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to make a full meal for a dinner party or special occasion:
- Appetizer: Classic Baked Potato Skins with Cheese & Bacon
- Soup: One-Pot Easy Beer Cheese Soup Recipe
- Salad: A Simple Green Bean Salad with Tomatoes & Feta
- Main Dish: Make Delicious Instant Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day
- Side Dish: Comforting & Creamy Instant Pot Mashed Red Potatoes
- Beverage: Luck of The Irish Cocktail – A Grand Green Cocktail for St. Patrick’s Day!
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too!