Funfetti Cupcakes

Mother's Day. Third year of cooking for Mama. The meal has become a tradition as fixed as her own traditions — DeShawn cooks for Mama on Mother's Day, and the menu is a showcase of everything she taught him. This year: smothered pork chops (the gravy at ninety-seven percent — I am closing in on the last three percent, which may be uncloseable because those three percent are Mama's hands and Mama's forty years and you cannot replicate time), mac and cheese, cornbread, greens, and banana pudding. Mama ate everything. She did not comment on each dish this year — she simply ate, which is the comment. When Mama eats without speaking, the food has passed beyond the need for evaluation. It is accepted. It is right. The silence is the applause. Dad ate a plate. A full plate. He has been having good weeks, and this was one of them — his appetite strong, his energy adequate, his spirit the usual Ronald Carter blend of quiet contentment and Tigers-related frustration. He said, "Good meal, son." Three words. A trilogy. Three words from my father about food I made for my mother on Mother's Day. I will remember those three words when I am old. I gave Mama a new apron. Purple (Zaria chose the color, obviously). Mama put it on over her church dress and stood in the kitchen looking like a woman who was born to wear an apron and run a kitchen and feed a family, which she was, and which she has done for forty years, and which she taught her son to do, and which her son is now doing in his own kitchen with his own hands and his own children watching from a step stool. Zaria said, "Grandma and Dada match!" because I was wearing my apron too. She is right. We match. In the kitchen, in the food, in the love. Mama and I match.

Banana pudding is Mama’s signature finish — and I will chase that recipe until I die — but this year Zaria planted herself on her step stool and announced she wanted “the rainbow cake,” and I am not in the habit of telling Zaria no when she is that certain about something. Funfetti Cupcakes it was, right alongside the pudding, because in this kitchen we do not have to choose between what Mama loves and what Zaria loves. We make both. That’s what forty years of watching Mama cook taught me: the table is big enough for everyone’s favorite, and the sprinkles are always worth it.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 cup rainbow jimmies (not nonpareils — they bleed)
For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3–4 tbsp heavy cream
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Additional rainbow sprinkles for topping

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed for 3–4 minutes until light, pale, and fluffy. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Add eggs and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.
Alternate dry and wet. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions (flour—buttermilk—flour—buttermilk—flour). Begin and end with the flour mixture. Mix just until no dry streaks remain — do not overmix.
Fold in the sprinkles. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the rainbow jimmies by hand. Folding (not mixing) keeps the colors from bleeding into the batter.
Fill and bake. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared liners, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 18–21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly when touched.
Cool completely. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting. Do not rush this step — warm cupcakes will melt the frosting.
Make the frosting. Beat the softened butter on medium-high speed for 2 minutes until creamy. Reduce speed to low and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add the heavy cream (start with 3 tbsp), vanilla, and salt. Increase speed to high and beat for 2–3 minutes until the frosting is fluffy and spreadable. Add the remaining tablespoon of cream if needed to reach your desired consistency.
Frost and finish. Pipe or spread frosting generously onto each cooled cupcake. Top immediately with a pinch of rainbow sprinkles. Serve at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Funfetti Cupcakes — The Sweetest Thing Mama’s Kitchen Ever Made