This fun Twice Upon a Cupcake is a copycat of the Christmas Cupcake from the Magic Kingdom! With a funfetti top, delicious vanilla buttercream, a red velvet hidden mickey - this cupcake is so much fun!
The Twice Upon a Cupcake debuted in Magic Kingdom and has been all over Instagram. With it’s fun hidden mickey and festive Christmas tree look I can see why!
If you are at Magic Kingdom you can find the original cupcake at the Main Street Bakery inside Starbucks off of Main Street. The cost per cupcake is $5.99 and is big enough to share!
Since I won’t be getting to Walt Disney World anytime soon, I knew I need to make a version of this cupcake so I could have one at home! I wanted to share this with you too!
If you make these cupcakes please tag us on Instagram at @discoveringthemagicblog! We love to see your creations!
Let’s share some Disney Christmas Cheer wherever you are!
What you’ll need for the Twice Upon a Cupcake:
- Funnfetti Cake Mix (plus oil, egg whites and water)
- Red Velvet Cake Mix (plus oil, eggs and water)
- White Cake Mix (plus oil, egg whites and water)
- 2 Batches Buttercream Frosting
- Green Food Coloring Gel
- Black Decorating Gel or Black Buttercream
- Wilton 22 Piping Tip
- Piping Bags
- Light Bulb Sprinkles
Watch how to make these cupcakes here:
How to make the cupcakes:
- Start by making your red velvet cake mix and bake. I baked mine in a greased, large rimmed baking sheet because it makes so much faster- but use whatever cake pans or baking dishes you have- just adjust the baking time accordingly.
- While that’s baking make your vanilla/white cake batter- set aside.
- Make your funfetti cake batter and use it to make 2 dozen cupcakes baked according to the package directions, then set aside and let cool.
How to make the hidden mickeys:
- Once your red velvet cake has baked and is cool enough to handle, crumble the entire cake into a large bowl. Then stir in a little water and a little white cupcake batter.
- Place a small amount of white cupcake batter in the bottom of each cupcake liner in a cupcake pan.
- Then roll a small ball of the red velvet mixture and place in each cupcake liner.
- Take another small amount of red velvet cupcake and roll into a log and then carefully connect the two ends, forming a circle. This takes a little practice because the red velvet cake needs to be worked enough so it doesn’t break. Smooth out any tears and then place the circle on top of each ball in the cupcake tins to form a halo.
- Cover each Mickey with more white cupcake batter. You don’t need to fill the cupcake liners up, just make sure to cover the top of each circle.
- Then bake.
How to make the funfetti tops:
- Cut each cupcake into a cone shape. The easiest way I found to do this is to cut at an angle. Just be careful!
How to decorate the Twice Upon a Cupcake:
- Using white buttercream and a piping bag with the tip cut off, pipe a layer of white buttercream onto every baked white cupcake with the hidden mickeys.
- Then press a cut funfetti cone onto each frosted cupcake.
- Using the Wilton 22 Piping Tip in a piping bag with green buttercream, pipe on the tree.
- Then using your black decorating gel, or black buttercream, pipe on a string that spirals around the tree.
- Gently press on the light bulbs and enjoy!
What frosting do you use?
I highly recommend making 1 batch of my vanilla buttercream, and a 1 batch of my green buttercream.
If you don’t want to make the funfetti top- I recommend just using greet buttercream to make a Christmas Tree swirl like these cupcakes.
Wait you use box cake mix?! What about making it from scratch?
Yes, I used box cake mix because I wanted to make these as simple as possible.
If you want to upgrade your box cake mix with a few additions to make them taste amazing you can totally do that. Check out my white cake mix upgrades here (do this for both funfetti and white cake mix in this recipe).
If you have a great from scratch recipe for all the cake types and want to use them go for it!
Differences between the copycat cupcake and the original:
- The copycat is slightly smaller. The original uses a taller more uniform cylindrical cupcake mold. Not only did I want to use what I had at home (instead of searching the internet for a perfect copy cupcake pan), but I wanted everyone who makes the not have to buy a new cupcake pan too.
- The original has larger more soft/chewy light bulb decorations. I used small light bulb sprinkles because that is what I could find at my local grocery store.
What to do with leftover funfetti scraps?
I recommend adding a little frosting and dipping in some candy melts to make my super easy cake pops!
If you like this recipe make sure to check out our:
And don't forget to read all about our favorite places to relax at Disneyland!
What copycat creation do you want to see next? Let us know in the comments below!
Watch how to make this recipe!
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Twice Upon a Cupcake Copycat
Ingredients
What you’ll need for the cupcakes:
- 1 Box of Funnfetti Cake Mix plus oil, egg whites and water
- Red Velvet Cake Mix plus oil, eggs and water
- White Cake Mix plus oil, egg whites and water
- 1 Batch Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 Batch Green Buttercream
- ¼ cup water
- Black Decorating Gel or Black Buttercream*
- Wilton 22 Piping Tip
- Piping Bags
- Light Bulb Sprinkles
- cupcake liners
Vanilla Buttercream Ingredients:
- 1 Cup unsalted butter
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbs vanilla
- 5 tbs heavy cream
- Pinch of salt
Green Buttercream Ingredients
- 2 Cups unsalted butter
- 10 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbs vanilla
- 10 tbs heavy cream
- Pinch of salt
- Green Food Gel
Instructions
Red Velvet Cake
- Follow the instructions on the box for making the red velvet cake batter and bake according to the box instructions. If you want your cake to bake a little quick, bake in a greased large rimmed baking sheet @350 for 10-12 minutes until fully baked.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle.
Funfetti cupcake toppers:
- Follow the instructions on the box for making the funfetti cake batter and bake 24 cupcakes according to the box instructions. I like to use cupcake liners in my cupcake pan but that’s up to you.
- Once baked, allow to cool, then cut into cone shapes.*
- I like to carefully cut at an angle to form a cone. It might take a little practice to get really good at making a cone shape- but it won’t be a big deal once everything is frosted!
Vanilla Cupcakes with the Hidden Mickey:
- Follow the instructions on the box for making the white cake batter.
- Crumble your red velvet cake in a large bowl and add ½ cup of the white cake batter and ½ cup water to it. Stir until fully combined.
- In a lined cupcake tin place a small about of white cupcake batter. Enough to cover the bottom.
- Then take a small amount of the red velvet cake mixture and roll it into a ball. Place the ball in the center of the cupcake tin on top of the white cupcake batter.
- Take some more of the red velvet cake mixture and roll into a thin log, then connect the two ends forming a circle. Place the circle on top of the red velvet ball.
- Spoon more white cupcake batter over the top of the cupcake- it just need to cover the top- don’t worry about filling up the sides.
- Bake cupcakes at 350°F for 14 minutes or until the they are fully baked. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- While cupcakes are cooling make frosting.
- Follow the instructions here for green buttercream, and here for vanilla buttercream.
How to decorate the Twice Upon a Cupcake:
- Using white buttercream and a piping bag with the tip cut off, pipe a layer of white buttercream onto every baked white cupcake with the hidden mickeys.
- Then press a funfetti cone onto each frosted cupcake.
- Using the Wilton 22 Piping Tip in a piping bag with green buttercream, pipe on the tree.
- Then using your black decorating gel, pipe on a string that spirals around the tree.
- Gently press on the light bulbs and enjoy!
Notes
- I used black gel because that is what I had on hand, you can find it at your grocery store in the baking aisle or the cake decorating isle. However, it doesn’t dry and will always be messy. If you want to make black buttercream and pipe that on instead (using a small piping tip) you can find add black food gel to homemade chocolate frosting or use store bought black buttercream (found in the cake decorating isle)
- Use leftover funfetti cupcake pieces and make my easy cake pops! (You don’t want to do this with leftover red velvet cake because it has raw vanilla cupcake batter in it.)
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