Red White & Blue Cupcakes!

Some people like to celebrate the 4th of July with barbecues and fireworks....I say,

"Let's celebrate with cupcakes!!"




If you are looking for an impressive treat for your 4th of July celebration, look no further. These Patriotic Cupcakes are too cute, a box cake mix makes it easy and they are sure to be a hit with the kids. Disclaimer - yes, I've heard all the "evil" about food coloring in food.....if this bother's you, please just close this post.

I've seen these cupcakes around the web for a while, like here and here and I've been looking forward to trying them myself! I will to say that I was thrilled with the results! They turned out even cuter than I had hoped for.

Here's what you do:

Mix up a batch of white cake batter, using The Perfect Cupcakes (using a mix)

Divide your white cake mix into 3 bowls.

Add red gel coloring to one, and blue to another.

I highly recommend using the gel-paste food coloring. The color is concentrated, so it does not require a lot to achieve the hue you’re going for. The liquid food coloring from the grocery store will "water down" your batter.

Spoon a little of each color into your cupcake liners, filling about 1/2 full.

Bake at 350° for 20 mins. and let cool.

Next I made a batch of Glory's Frosting

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
(from Glorious Treats)

Ingredients:
½ cup butter, at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions:

• *Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.

• Add vanilla and sugar and blend on low until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy. (*I used clear vanilla to keep my frosting nice and white)
  

• Slowly add the cream a little at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)

• I added some bright white gel coloring at this point to make my frosting nice and white.
  

• Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.

• Pipe onto cupcakes!

To make my icing multi colored, I tried something new this time.

I bought the Wilton Holiday Gels in red and blue and lined the inside of my pastry/decorating bag with 2 stripes of each.



I then filled the bag with my white frosting and piped my cupcakes using my Wilton 1M tip.

I did add some fun patriotic sprinkles to some, that I found in the Dollar Spot at Target a while back, and topped all of them with these little red pin-wheel toppers I picked up at WalMart.

See how fun they look when you bite in!

I'm going to make these again this weekend as our family all gather's at our family log home.

If you more the adventurous type, you may want to pop over to i am baker, and see the incredible cake Amanda "whipped up" *you're in for a treat when she makes an appearance here on TidyMom soon with a fabulous guest post for you guys!!

While we celebrate with yummy food, I cannot help but think about the life of freedom we have today that is due to all of the people who gave (and are still giving) the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect our country. I appreciate their dedication and sacrifices from the bottom of my heart. It is because of them and their families that we can fly our flags high and be thankful that we live in the U.S.A.

I'm sharing this recipe at
Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Tastes, Tasty Tuesday, 4th of July Party, Get Your Craft On and Cupcake Tuesday
CSI Project on Tuesday for this week's challenge of Red White and Blue!
and Stars and Stripes Party at Centsational Girl

Now thru midnight EST on Friday July 2, 2010 you can
use the discount code FRIEND at checkout, you will get 10% off any subscription, or coupon code LOVECM for 20% off a lifetime subscription.

Don't miss a post subscribe via Rss Reader or by E-Mail