Galactic Space Cupcakes

Did you know that 12 people have walked on the surface of the moon?  Me either, but recently my kids have been obsessed with checking out books and watching shows about space.  I’ve learned quite a bit about space this summer, including that there is even an annual holiday, Space Exploration Day on July 20th, that commemorates the anniversary of the first manned mission to the Moon.  If there is a holiday to be celebrated you can guarantee that I’ll find a way to make it fun and memorable, which is why the kids and I whipped up a batch of these Galactic Space cupcakes to celebrate Space Exploration Day.

This space aged dessert is a fun way to learn about outer space in one of the most delicious ways possible. The patterns and whorls of these galaxy cupcakes may look complex, but the process for making them is actually really, really simple.

What You Will Need:

• Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Baking Mix
• Vanilla frosting
• Gel Food Coloring (blue, violet, pink)
• Pastry Bag 
• Paint Brush
• Star Sprinkles
• Galaxy Sprinkles
• Solar System Printables

My girls love baking so when I suggested we make galaxy themed cupcakes to celebrate Space Exploration Day they were more than happy to help. I always loved baking with my mom as a kid and I love being able to do it with my own kids now that I am a mom.  The girls took turn cracking eggs and mixing the cake mix.

Once the batter was ready they put black and white polka dot baking cups in a muffin tin and filled them with the batter.  Here’s a tip: When you are baking with the kids give them an ice cream scoop to put the batter in the muffin tins.  It is easier for them, and makes less of a mess for you.

While the cupcakes were in the oven baking we prepared our super easy galactic icing.  One of the things I seriously dislike about baking is all of the dishes that pile up at the end, especially when you are using multiple colors of icing.  I’ve discovered that one of the easiest ways to make multi-colored icing is to use gel food coloring and “paint” it into a pastry bag.  With this method you don’t end up with lots of dirty dishes, but you still get the same space inspired result.  Dip your clean paint brush in the gel food coloring and paint stripes along the inside of your pastry bag.  Alternate colors, we used blue, violet and pink, so that you get a cool spacey look.

Once you have your bag all painted, add your favorite vanilla icing to the bag. Push the icing down and cut the tip of the bag so the colors can flow out and mix together in a swirly pattern.

Before we iced our cupcakes we decided to add a little surprise.  Use a pastry tip or treat corer and remove the center of the cupcake.  Fill it with star sprinkles or a galaxy themed sprinkle mix.

Now, pipe the galaxy icing onto your cupcake in a swirly pattern from the outer edge to the center.

Because you can never have too many sprinkles, the girls added more stars and sprinkles to the top of the cupcakes.

We cut out solar system printables and added them to the cupcakes to complete our space themed treats. You can’t very well explore the galaxy without a rocket ship now can you?  Which is why we also made these fun Rocket Ship Cake Push Pops too!  My girls were so excited to invite their cousins over to try their galactic space cupcakes in honor of Space Exploration Day, and it was lots of fun baking and exploring space and making memories I know my girls will cherish.