Name: Mermaid Cupcakes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients: 9 oz Jiffy cake mix, 1 small box; 1 tub white frosting; Supplies; Violet coloring; Royal blue coloring; Teal coloring; Mermaid Sprinkles; Mermaid Tails; Wilton 1M tip; Plastic wrap; Piping bag

Jump to Recipe

If you’d like to add instant whimsy to any party, make some mermaid cupcakes.

Whether you are hosting an underwater birthday party or having a fierce girls’ night in, these swirly ocean mermaid cupcakes are not as hard to make as you may think.

Let’s face it; we’re never too old for mermaids.

Important note: The Wilton mermaid tails you see pictured are not easy to deal with. The majority of them either broke while removing them from the paper or ended up breaking while handling.

Although they are super pretty, we recommend choosing another fin option.

Mermaid cupcake sitting on a board with more cupcakes in the background.

Mermaid Cupcakes for Magical Treats

This recipe uses a box of cake mix to make these mermaid cupcakes a tad easier to create.

Since we are A Magical Mess, we like to throw in shortcuts most of the time.

We are likely to prepare baked goods at the very last minute that they are needed. Anything to shave some time off of the recipe is welcome.

If the swirled icing intimidates you, don’t let it. It’s a lot easier to create the frosting swirl when you break it down into steps.

Colors used here are Wilton teal, royal blue, and violet. The sprinkles are from Party City, and they are Tylina Sweet Shop Mermaid Sprinkle Mix.

However, if you’d rather order them, there’s a link to another option in the recipe card.

Again, we caution you against the mermaid tails we used. We will be on the hunt for a better option.

Personally, I think making mermaid tails with chocolate in a mold sounds a lot tastier than the hard sugary one.

Blue and purple cupcake with a bite taken out.

More Magical Desserts to Make:

Unicorn party cookie cups
Easy and fun unicorn bark
Melting unicorn hot chocolate
Mermaid cookie dessert pizza
No-bake mermaid donut holes
No-churn mermaid ice cream

Collage of steps to make mermaid cupcakes. Includes swirled cake mix in purple, blue, and white.

Shop Mermaid Baking Supplies on Amazon

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Mermaid Cupcakes

Colorful mermaid cupcakes to make for your next magical celebration.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Cool time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

9 oz Jiffy cake mix, 1 small box
1 tub white frosting
Supplies
Violet coloring
Royal blue coloring
Teal coloring
Mermaid Sprinkles
Mermaid Tails
Wilton 1M tip
Plastic wrap
Piping bag

Instructions

Prepare cupcake batter as directed on box. Divide batter into thirds and color one batter teal, one blue, and one violet. Mix well.
Use a 1 tablespoon portion scoop to scoop 1 scoop of each color batter into cupcake liners. Bake cupcakes as directed on package. Let cool completely.
Divide 1 tub of white frosting into three bowls. Color one bowl teal and one bowl violet. Lay a piece of plastic wrap onto a flat surface. Spread each color next to each other on the plastic wrap, making about a 10-12″ strip. Fold the plastic wrap tightly and twist ends.
Snip the tip of the plastic wrap and place into a plastic piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe icing onto cupcakes and top with sprinkles. Add icing decoration.

Notes

Nutrition facts are an estimate and do not include toppings.

Swirly Blue and Purple Mermaid Cupcakes