Moist vanilla cupcakes topped with a creamy green ermine frosting, decorated for St. Patrick’s Day!
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pot of gold cupcakes
These are the *perfect* cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day! They’re super moist, light and fluffy, topped with a creamy ermine buttercream, and topped with a little rainbow and pot of gold.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Be careful when mixing the cupcake batter:
It is super important to not over-mix the cupcake batter or you will end up with tough and chewy cupcakes. Using the reverse creaming method makes it more difficult to over-mix the batter, but it’s still good to be aware of how much you are mixing it. Only mix just until all of the ingredients are cohesive.
Use room temperature ingredients:
This is super important for allowing the batter to come together smoothly. You’ll want to take your ingredients out of the fridge about an hour before baking to allow them enough time to come to room temperature.
Keep a close eye on the cupcakes while they bake:
Cakes and cupcakes like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. I’d recommend that you start checking on the cake around 15 minutes.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for pot of gold cupcakes:
vanilla cupcakes:
- All purpose flour: gives the cupcakes their structure.
- Baking powder: for helping the cupcakes rise.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the batter.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cupcakes and adding that nice buttery flavor to them. You can substitute in salted butter, just be sure to omit the extra salt in the batter.
- Vegetable oil: for tenderizing the cupcakes. If you don’t have vegetable oil on hand, you can use another neutral oil such as canola.
- Granulated sugar: for adding sweetness and for locking in moisture.
- Egg: for binding the batter together and adding moisture.
- Vanilla: for flavor.
- Sour cream & whole milk: for tenderizing the cupcakes and making them moist. I recommend full-fat for both of these for the best texture in the cupcakes, but low-fat or non-dairy alternatives should work well here. This recipe was originally made with buttermilk but I know that can be annoying to purchase. If you’d like to use buttermilk, replace the sour cream and milk with 85g full-fat buttermilk.
ermine frosting:
- Granulated sugar: for sweetness.
- All purpose flour: for thickening the mixture for the ermine frosting.
- Salt: for flavor – never skip on the salt!
- Whole milk: the base of the ‘pudding’ mixture for the ermine frosting.
- Unsalted butter: the base of the frosting. You can use salted butter, just be sure to omit the extra salt.
For the garnish:
- Sour candy belts (such as Airheads), mini peanut butter cups, gold sugar pearl sprinkles & mini marshmallows
pot of gold cupcakes recipe q&a
can I make these into chocolate cupcakes?
If you’re looking for a small batch chocolate cupcake recipe, you’re in luck and can find my small batch chocolate cupcakes here.
can I double this recipe?
Definitely – just double all the ingredients and distribute the batter between 12 cupcake liners. Please be sure to use grams for the best results.
can I make these cupcakes ahead of time?
Definitely – I would recommend making the cupcakes no more than two days ahead of time. Store the unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. I’d recommend waiting to make the buttercream until you want to pipe it on to the cupcakes, to avoid needing to re-whip it.
how to store cupcakes
Like most baked goods, these vanilla cupcakes will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. Because of the ermine frosting you’ll want to store them in an airtight container in the fridge, where they’ll keep well for up to 5 days. If you’re not a fan of cold cupcakes, you can let them sit out at room temperature for ~1 hr. before eating.
tools and ingredients
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Pot of Gold Cupcakes
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 90 g all purpose flour (¾ c.)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
- 41 g unsalted butter cubed, room temperature (3 tbsp.)
- 32 g vegetable oil (2 ½ tbsp.)
- 1 egg white room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 45 g sour cream room temperature (3 tbsp.)
- 55 g whole milk room temperature (¼ c.)
Ermine Buttercream
- 150 g granulated sugar (¾ c.)
- 30 g all purpose flour (¼ c.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 170 g whole milk (¾ c.)
- 170 g unsalted butter room temperature (¾ c.)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2-4 drops green food coloring
Garnish
- 3 sour candy rainbow belts
- 2 tbsp. gold sugar pearl sprinkles
- 6 mini peanut butter cups
- mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Start making the ermine frosting. Add the sugar, flour, salt, and milk to a small saucepan set over medium heat.
- Continuously whisk the mixture together until it starts to bubble up and thickens to a pudding-like consistency.
- Transfer the mixture to a heat-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave the mixture in the fridge to chill until the cupcakes are done baking.
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a muffin tin with 6 parchment liners.
- To a medium sized mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cubed butter. Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat the mixture together until the butter has completely combined with the dry ingredients and no lumps remain.
- Add in the oil, egg white, vanilla, sour cream, and milk. Whisk the ingredients together just until a cohesive batter has formed.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the six liners. Bake for 15-20 min., or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Ermine Buttercream
- While the cupcakes come to room temperature, finish making the ermine frosting. In a medium sized mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until it’s light and fluffy.
- While the mixer is running, add in the milk mixture one heaping tablespoon at a time, allowing it to fully combine with the butter before adding in more. Repeat until you have used up all of the mixture, then beat in the vanilla and green food coloring.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your tip of choice.
- Cut each sour candy rainbow belt in half, and put the gold sugar pearl sprinkles into a small bowl.
- Dollop a small amount of frosting on top of each mini peanut butter cup, then dunk the side with the frosting into the sprinkles to make the pot of gold.
- Generously frost each cupcake. Stick each end of the sour candy into the frosting on each cupcake to form a rainbow. On one side of the rainbow, place the pot of gold. On the other side, place a couple of the mini marshmallows. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Beating the butter into the dry ingredients
I’ve found that this is always much easier and takes way less time when you do it in a a stand mixer. If you’re using a hand mixer, just note that this is going to take a couple of minutes, and the smaller you cube up your butter, the easier it will be.Use a kitchen scale:
I can’t stress enough the importance of a kitchen scale for accurate baking. While other things can go wrong during the baking process, using a kitchen scale helps your recipe come out closer to how mine did and can be more helpful for troubleshooting if something goes wrong. Here is a cheaper kitchen scale (affiliate link) that was trusty and helpful when I was starting with a scale. If you can’t use a scale – please make sure that you fluff up your flour with a fork, and spoon it into your measuring cup while measuring the flour.Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.