These mermaid tail cupcakes feature tender white cake topped with aqua buttercream frosting and a plastic mermaid tail. It looks like a mermaid diving underwater!
I love making cupcakes. They're delicious, and they're so pretty. I'm an especially big fan of these delicious mermaid cupcakes decorated to look like a mermaid diving underwater. The colors pop and the flavor is fantastic.
Themed cupcakes are just so much fun! These are perfect for a summer ocean themed party, mermaid birthday party or just for a fun and tasty activity to do with kids.
Whether you're making Christmas cupcakes or monster cupcakes for Halloween, when you serve up a plate of cupcakes decorated for the occasion, everyone is always excited. They really do make your heart as happy as your tastebuds.
Adorably Delicious Mermaid Cupcakes
Cupcakes are just tiny cakes, as their name implies, which means you can get just as creative with them as you would a full-size cake. And that's just what I love to do. The more creative the better, if you ask me, and this recipe reflects that.
If you're already in love with this cupcake recipe, then you'll want to check out these dulce de leche cupcakes, sunflower cupcakes, chocolate mint cupcakes, or our Reese’s Cupcakes.
Why You Will Love this Recipe
- They're adorably decorated with a mermaid tail sticking up out of aqua buttercream frosting.
- They're extremely easy to make, even though they're fully from scratch.
- Everyone will love their classic flavor and fun decoration.
Top Tip:
It's imperative that you fully soften your butter when making the buttercream frosting so you don't end up with raw chunks of butter in your frosting.
Ingredients
This recipe only uses simple ingredients. Outside of the sprinkles and plastic mermaid tails, you might already have all of the ingredients in your pantry right now.
- Basic batter ingredients: Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, eggs, milk, and vegetable oil make the cupcake batter.
- Basic icing ingredients: Butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and aqua gel food coloring gel.
The full ingredient list with quantities can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.
How to Make Mermaid Cupcakes
Let's take a look at the main steps for these easy cupcakes. It doesn't take much to make them. You'll find the complete instructions in the recipe card.
- Combine the dry cupcake ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.
2. Then, mix them together until smooth using a hand mixer, whisk or wooden spoon..
3. Fill cupcake liners until ⅔ full and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
3. To make the frosting, cream butter and powdered sugar together. Then, add milk and vanilla. Finally, add the food coloring gel.
4. Pipe frosting onto the cupcakes, add a mermaid tail to each cupcake, and sprinkle with mermaid sprinkle mix.
Substitutions and Variations
- Your favorite cake: Use your favorite storebought cake mix flavor for these mermaid tail cupcakes instead of homemade to save time.
- Any color frosting: You can use any color frosting you like for these cupcakes. We've used pink frosting too. Just consider leaving off the mermaid tails and just adding sprinkles. The choice is always yours.
- Storebought: Buy storebought frosting and add food coloring gel to save time.
- Any holiday: Change the frosting color and decorations to match any holiday.
If you love anything with buttercream, then check out these Andes Mint cupcakes.
What to Serve with Cupcakes
Cupcakes are delicious on their own with some milk or coffee. They also make a great addition to any potluck dessert table.
Would you like to find more wonderful cupcake recipes? To find more, check out our Summer Cupcake Recipes.
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Cupcake tin
- Cupcake liners
- Piping bag and tip
Storage
On the counter: Store these cupcakes in a covered container for a couple of days at room temperature.
In the refrigerator: Store these cupcakes in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to a week.
In the freezer: You can store these cupcakes for up to 3 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container.
Tips
- Be sure your butter is fully softened when making your frosting. Otherwise, you'll end up with bits of raw butter and a lumpy frosting.
- Always mix wet and dry ingredients separately before combining them.
- Spray your liners with nonstick spray if you want to be extra sure nothing sticks.
FAQ
Amelia Simmons published the first recipe for cupcakes in her book "American Cookery" in 1796.
Yes. The only difference is the pan in which they're prepared. That's why they're called cupcakes. They're cakes in tiny cups.
The large amount of sugar stabilizes the very small amount of butter and milk used to make the frosting, making it good at room temperature for a couple of days.
These cupcakes can be made the night before and kept in the refrigerator.
More Cupcake Recipes You'll Love
Mermaid Cupcakes
Equipment
- muffin pan 12 holes
Ingredients
Cupcake Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar -
- 3 teaspoon baking powder -
- 1 teaspoon salt -
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract -
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup water
Frosting Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract -
- 2-3 tablespoon milk
- Aqua blue food coloring gel
Decorations
Instructions
- Prepare cupcake pans by lining them with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, beat milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and eggs together.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Beat again until smooth.
- Add water and beat again.
- Transfer batter to prepared cupcake pans, filing each liner ⅔ full.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- To prepare frosting, in a medium mixing bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar together. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla. Beat well.
- If it is too thick, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.
- Next, add food coloring gel until desired color is reached. This will vary depending on the type of food gel you are using.
- Transfer frosting to a large ziplock bag and cut a small corner off.
- Pipe frosting onto each cupcake, adding sprinkles before the frosting hardens.
- Carefully place a mermaid tale on top of each cupcake.
Notes
- Be sure your butter is fully softened when making your frosting. Otherwise, you'll end up with bits of raw butter and a lumpy frosting.
- Press mermaid tail into the cupcake at least a ½ inch to be sure it stays in place.
- Always mix wet and dry ingredients separately before combining them.
- Spray your liners with nonstick spray if you want to be extra sure nothing sticks.
- For best results refrigerate decorated cupcakes for at least an hour or two before serving allowing frosting to set and harden a little so everything stays in place.
- Use a storebought cake mix of your favorite flavor to save time.
- Buy storebought frosting, add food coloring and mix until blended to save time. Simply add that frosting to your piping bag.
Nutrition
Samantha says
These cupcakes were a big hit at my daughters birthday party as you can imagine all of them kept their tail lol I have to say I loved the taste and texture of these cupcakes and will use this recipe going forward with your icing. What a pleasant surprise Thank you for sharing
Karin and Ken says
I love the basic cupcake recipe too. Glad they worked out and we’re enjoyed by all. Hopefully you find some other recipes on this site that you enjoy just as much! All the best. Karin