Ahhh…funnel cakes! Just the thought of funnel cakes brings back memories of summer and the fair that came to town every summer. I grew up in an area that specialized in frying dough or just about anything else. But somehow when you top fried dough with powdered sugar it becomes almost like a dessert. Confessions of a Cookbook Queen figured out how to add funnel cake pieces to the top of a delectable cinnamon vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting and a LOT of powdered sugar. These just might be better than plain funnel cakes. Maybe. But then again, there’s just something about buying carnival food at the actual carnival. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Funnel Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, slightly softened
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/2 cup cake flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
Frosting:
- 2 sticks salted butter, slightly softened
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Funnel Cakes:
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 3 TBS white sugar
- 1 1/3 cup milk
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- About a cup of powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Line 24 muffin tins with liners and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together baking powder, cake flour, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large glass mixing cup, combine milk, sour cream, and vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium until fluffy and light in color, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs. Add flour and milk mixture alternately, a bit at a time, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Increase speed to medium and beat until batter is smooth.
- Fill prepared muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched in the center. Remove and cool on wire racks.
- Prepare frosting:
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter, cream, and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add powdered sugar, beating until just combined. Increase speed to high and beat until fluffy and smooth, about a minute. If frosting is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
- Funnel Cakes:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
- In the bowl of your mixer, cream milk, sugar and eggs. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. The batter should resemble thick pancake batter — pourable, but thick enough to hold it’s shape when poured into hot oil. If it’s too thick, add a bit of milk. If it’s too thin, add a bit more flour until you get the right consistency.
- Pour oil in an 8 inch skillet. The oil should be about an inch high. Heat until it reaches 375, or batter sizzles when you drop a bit in.
- Using a funnel or a pancake batter dispenser, pour batter in the pan in a circular motion. Do about 3 circles, then fill in with criss crosses of batter. This will hold it all together. Cook in the oil until the bottom turns a dark golden, then flip over and do the same. Drain funnel cakes on paper towels. Cut into pieces.
- Frost prepared cupcakes, then top with pieces of funnel cake. Sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar and serve.