Cotton Candy Cupcakes

Cotton Candy Cupcake base:

1 ¼ cups cake flour

¾ tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

¾ cups whole milk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

¼ tsp. cotton candy flavoring

6 tbsp. unsalted room temp butter

1 cup baker?s sugar

3 large egg whites at room temp

Cotton Candy Frosting:

1 cup room temp unsalted butter

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. cotton candy flavoring

3-5 drops red food coloring

Blue sanding sugar

Filling:

Pre-packaged white chocolate pudding mix and whole milk (as directed per instructions on the packaging)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper cups.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the milk and flavorings.

In the electric mixer, mix together the butter and sugar for apx. 3 minutes until it looks light in color and completely combined. The mixture will be clumpy. Add the flour mixture and the milk mixture alternately. Add the flour mixture in three additions and the milk mixture in two additions (starting and ending with the flour mixture.) Set aside.

Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add one third of the egg whites to the cake batter, gently folding it in. When no white streaks remain, fold in the remaining two thirds into the cake batter. No white streaks should remain.

Use a disher to pour the batter into the cupcake pans. Fill each cup two-thirds full. Bake for Apx. 15 minutes.

Mix the milk and pudding packet together as directed on the packaging. When the cupcakes have cooled, use a piping tip to make a hole in the center of each cupcake. Fill a pastry bag with the pudding and fill each hole with a little pudding.

To make the frosting, combine the powdered sugar and butter in the electric mixer until it is light and airy. Add the food coloring and cotton candy flavoring, mix until it is one color. Use a pastry bag to pipe frosting on to the cupcakes. Top with blue sanding sugar. Enjoy!