4th of July Cupcakes

I usually don't spend a lot of time making cupcakes look pretty. Cupcakes seem to have a special standing in the world of desserts; no matter how they look, people will eat them without hesitation. They are essentially just a lazy way to eat cake (no cutting, forks, or plates involved!). However, there are certain times when a cupcake just looks boring without decoration. The 4th of July is one of those times. Most desserts served on that day, at BBQs or family get-togethers, tend to have a red, white, and blue theme.

I've wanted to make more layered cupcakes like the ones I made for my sister-in-law's baby shower, but I haven't had a reason to. For anything related to cake decorating, I need motivation to stay focused on the task. With the 4th of July coming up, red, white, and blue layered cupcakes are perfect.

What you need:
Prepared white cake mix
Red and blue food coloring and toothpicks
Small mixing bowls
Spoons
Cupcake pan & liners
Batch of frosting
(Optional) Frosting bag and size 20 star tip

I found these amazingly cute cupcake liners at the grocery store. Reynolds now makes "party" cupcake liners that come in a variety of colors and patterns. I couldn't pass up buying these plaid ones. They cost the same as the standard colors, so I recommend using a fun design!

After admiring the awesome cupcake liners, place one into each spot in the cupcake pan.

After preparing your cake mix, evenly divide it into three mixing bowls. Using the food coloring, tint one bowl of batter red and another bowl of batter blue. The other bowl of batter will remain white, but stir the batter for 30 seconds with a spoon to give it the same consistency as the tinted batter.

Using spoons (I used soup spoons), layer the batter into the cupcake liners. The bottom layer will be red, the middle will be white, and the top layer will be blue. Each layer only requires a spoonful of batter which you will need to gently spread out. The cupcake liners will probably be filled more than the recommended amount, but they won't overflow while baking. This results in few cupcakes being made from one box mix (I ended up with 20 cupcakes).

Bake the cupcakes according to the box directions. With white cake, I use the lower number in the time range recommended. This prevents the white cake from drying out. Place the baked cupcakes on a cooling rack to cool.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make a batch of your favorite frosting. If using white frosting, it can be tinted red, white, and blue to match the cupcakes. To do this, evenly divide the frosting up into three small mixing bowls. Tint one bowl of frosting red and another bowl blue.

One method of frosting with tri-colored frosting is to use a decorating bag and a star tip. I used a 10 inch featherweight reusable bag and a size 20 star tip. Filling the bag is tricky and messy. There may be a better way to go about doing this, but I haven't figure one out yet.

Hold the bag open with one hand and use a frosting spatula or knife to scoop frosting into the bag one color at a time. Don't worry about the colors mixing while filling the bag; the colors will mix while coming out anyway.

Once the bag is filled, twist the top closed and frost your cupcakes. It is easiest to start at the outer edge and circle around to the middle.

When all the cupcakes are frosted, it is recommended that you cut a cupcake in half. This is mainly so you can see the layers more clearly and have an excuse to eat a cupcake before anyone else.