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Made with real Rainbow Sherbet and topped with three flavors of frosting swirled together. These cupcakes smell and taste like a dream!
Not only do these cupcakes look like rainbow sherbet, they taste exactly like it!
That might have something to do with the fact that they are made with melted rainbow sherbet. Say whaaaat?!? Yes. You heard me correctly! I melted the Rainbow Sherbet and added it to a cake mix. And voila! Rainbow Sherbet flavored cupcakes! I was worried about how the colors would mix together, but the cupcakes come out a lovely peach color. No food coloring needed. There are of course a few modifications that I had to make to the cake mix also, but that’s all included in the recipe below.
But did I stop there? Oh no. If you follow me at House of Yumm already, you know me better than that! I always have to do something fun with my frosting!
Not only is this a tri-colored frosting. It is also tri-flavored! Is that a real phrase? I’m not so sure. But I AM sure that this frosting is possibly the most awesome frosting to ever be put on a cupcake.
I used a Strawberry flavor, an Orange Creamsicle flavor, and a Key Lime flavored frosting. All swirled together. Trust me. It’s amazing. Make sure you check out my tutorial on how to swirl together three different frostings here. It’s so much easier than you would think!
You are going to love how easy these cupcakes are to make, and how they practically scream out Summertime!!
Check out all the Tips & Tricks for the Perfect Cupcake here!
Rainbow Sherbet Cupcakes
Ingredients
For Cupcakes
- 1 white cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 cups Rainbow Sherbet melted and cooled to room temperature
For Frosting
- 8 cups Powdered Sugar
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 8 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp strawberry flavor extract
- ½ tsp lime flavor extract
- ½ tsp orange flavor extract
- food coloring red, green, orange
Instructions
For Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake tin.
- Add cake mix, eggs, and rainbow sherbet into mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add in the flour and give a few stirs until just mixed in.
- Add cake batter to the cupcake liners using a 1/3 cup of batter, filling until the cupcake liners are about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until baked through, check with a toothpick. Let the cupcakes cool in the baking tin for 5 minutes then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.
For Frosting
- Cream butter in a medium size bowl until smooth and creamy. Add in the heavy cream and powdered sugar.
- Mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes until ingredients are combined. Then mix on medium speed for an additional 3 minutes until frosting is peaking, meaning that it is holding it’s shape.
- Separate into three bowls and add a flavor extract to each bowl and matching color of food coloring. Stir to completely combine the flavor into the frosting, should have a uniform color throughout.
- Frost swirling all three frosting (tutorial available). I used a Wilton 2D tip for these cupcakes.
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can’t wait to try this with my Yoga/Chair Cardio Group! They will flip, I’m sure. Thanks for your adventurous baking skills. You rock! Chaos Gramma, Amherst, OH
They no longer make the Duncan hines flavor creations. What would you suggest for a substitute?
Hi Christine! I know!! You can’t get those little packets anymore. But no worries you can still make this frosting! There’s a few options, you can get extracts and use the extracts and a little food coloring. There are times that Pillsbury will make these flavors, usually during the summer, and you can use store bought frosting. You can also try using koolaid packets or jello packets, which give amazing flavor for frosting. The only thing I have noticed with doing that in the past is that there is a little gritty texture to the frosting when you use Jello flavors. But using the extracts I think would be the best way to go!
Use sugar-free jello, about a tsp for each flavor (or to taste). It does not have the gritty texture. If making frosting ahead of time, make it a little softer than you want since the jello tends to thicken it a bit. 🙂
Hello, I think I have hit a bit of a language barrier… when I hear the word “sherbert”, I think ‘fizzy, sour/tangy, powdered or granulated sugar treat’. Somehow, I don’t think that is what you mean. Am I right?
Sherbet is a creamy frozen fruit ice cream. So the cupcakes are made with melted Sherbet 🙂
I have a question I have never done the melted sherbet in the cake mix before do I still add the ingredients on the back of the cake mix or do I just add what yours ask for? And what white cake mix brand did you use if you don’t mind me asking
Just follow the recipe as I have it. I used the cake mix as a base and altered it to get the right consistency while using the melted sherbet. I typically use a Pillsbury White Cake Mix.