• Preheat your oven to 350°F.
• Line a pair of 12-cup cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

Prepare the Cupcake Batter

• In a large mixing bowl, mix white cake mix with sour cream, whole milk, vegetable oil, egg whites, and vanilla extract until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes, using a hand or stand mixer.
• Divide the batter evenly into 2 medium bowls.
• Color one bowl yellow and the other orange using gel food coloring.
• Stir each until the colors are vibrant and evenly mixed.
• Evenly divide the yellow batter between all the cupcake liners, then gently layer the orange batter right on top. I usually use a piping bag to keep the layers tidy, but a spoon works just as well. Just aim for the same amount of each color in every liner, and don’t swirl the batters together. You want each liner about 2/3 full.

Bake the Cupcakes

• Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
• Let them cool completely before frosting, about 45 minutes.

Prepare the Frosting

• To make the buttercream, beat softened unsalted butter until smooth and creamy.
• Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing on low until combined, then beating on high until the mixture is fluffy.
• Add heavy cream, vanilla extract and a pinch of kosher salt.
• Beat again until smooth.
• Divide the frosting into 3 bowls.
• Leave one white, color one yellow and color the last one orange. Since you will be piping more yellow on the bottom and a little less white on top, you might want to make a little extra yellow and slightly less white when dividing.
• Stir each color until smooth and evenly tinted.

Frost the Candy Corn Cupcakes

• Fit a piping bag with a 2A round tip.
• Start by piping a layer of yellow frosting onto each cupcake.
• Refill with orange and pipe the second layer. Finish with white on top, stacking the frosting to look like candy corn!