If you’ve got a little Cars fan in your house, these Lightning McQueen cupcakes are about to become a fast favorite. Bright red frosting, bold details, and plenty of personality make these cupcakes perfect for birthday parties, movie nights, or any day that calls for something extra fun. The best part is that you don’t need advanced decorating skills or specialty tools to pull them off. With a few simple ingredients and easy steps, you can turn ordinary cupcakes into a race-ready treat that looks impressive but stays totally approachable. Whether you’re baking with kids or surprising a Lightning McQueen superfan, this recipe puts you on the fast track to a dessert that gets big smiles at the finish line.
Lightning McQueen Cupcakes
Equipment
- medium star tip and pastry bag
- 5 piping bags fitted with the number 2 tip
- lightening mcqueens eyes image from google
- pen or pencil to trace the image
- white paper
- mising bowls
Ingredients
- 1 box French vanilla cake mix
- 3 eggs
- ½ C unsalted sweet cream butter softened
- 1 C whole milk
- 1 TBSP pure vanilla bean paste
Frosting
- 1 C unsalted sweet cream butter softened
- 2 ½ C powder sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3-5 TBSP heavy whipping cream
- Red food coloring
Icing Transfers
- 2 egg whites
- 1 ½ C powder sugar
- ¼ tsp cream of tarter
- ½ tsp vanilla
- food dye red, black, blue, and yellow
Instructions
Directions for Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with the liners
- In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, milk, and vanilla bean pasta and mix until combined
- Using a medium ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into the cupcake liners and fill about 3/4 of the way full
- Bake in the oven for about 21 minutes
- Pull out and place on the side to cool
Frosting
- Using a standing mixer, combine all ingredients except the food coloring into the bowl and mix on medium speed
- If your frosting starts looking like powdery rocks, add another tablespoon of heavy whipping cream
- Mix until you see creamy stiffed peaks
- Separate the frosting into three bowls
- Add red dye into the bowl and mix until combined
- Add a few more drops in to get a bright red
- Fit the star tip into the piping bag
- Scoop the red frosting into the piping bag
- Twist the top of the piping bag and squeeze the frosting down
- Take your cooled cupcake and frosting the cupcake from the outer edge
- Gently peel off lightening’s eyes and place onto the top center of the cupcake
- Add two yellow dots below his eyes, in the corner for the headlights
- Add 4 black dots, 2 on each side, for tires
Directions to make transfer
- Locate the image of lightening McQueens eyes on google and print it out
- Take your piece of paper and place on top of the image
- Using a pen or pencil trace the image onto the white paper about 3-4 times 4 inches apart
- Place the paper with the copies onto the cookie sheet
- Using the standing mixer, combine the powder sugar, egg whites, cream of tarter and vanilla and mix on medium speed
- if the royal icing is still a yellow soup, add in 1/2 C powder sugar
- Continue to mix until you get stiff peaks
- Evenly divide the icing into the five bowls,
- Add a few red drops into the first bowl and mix until combined.
- Add a few more drops to get the shade of red that you want
- Add a few blue drops to the second bowl
- Add a few yellow drops to the third bowl
- Add a few black drops to the fourth bowl
- Leave the white icing in the fifth bowl white
- Scoop the icing colors into a piping bag
- Using the black icing, outline the place lines on lightening’s eyes
- Using the red icing, fill in the top part red
- Using the white icing, fill in the bottom part white
- Using the blue icing, add two blue dots for his eyes
- Using the black icing again, add a dot into the center of the blue dot for his pupils
- Using the yellow icing, below lightenings eyes on a empty space on the cookie sheet, pipe on 24 small yellow dots for lightening’s headlights
- Using the black icing, pipe on 48 medium sized black circles for the tires
- Set aside for 1 day to dry.
Nutrition
These cupcakes bring smiles and excitement to the table, whether you serve them at a birthday party, a Cars-themed celebration, or as a fun surprise. These cupcakes prove that a little creativity can turn a simple dessert into something truly special, without requiring hours of decorating or professional skills. Whether you serve them at a birthday party, a Cars-themed celebration, or as a fun surprise, these cupcakes bring smiles and excitement to the table. So grab your frosting, have fun with the details, and enjoy watching your cupcakes cross the finish line as a sweet success.
These are darling! Great job! I used to do a bit of cake decorating and know what fun it can be!
These are so cute! I didn’t even know a new cars movie was coming out. I’ll have to take my younger brother!
These are adorable and so creative! My kids are so excited to see Cars 3! Thanks for sharing!
Oh my gosh – these are ridiculously cute. Your icing skills are incredible!