Best July 4th Cupcakes Recipes

JULY 4TH CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium. Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in vanilla.
• Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. (Cupcakes can be frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.)
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in a heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
• Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
• With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
• Decorating: Tint 1 cup buttercream bright blue with gel-paste food color. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip (#4). Using an offset spatula, spread each cupcake with a smooth layer of untinted buttercream. (Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before decorating.)
• To finish, cut licorice laces into seventy-two 1 1/2-inch-long pieces and seventy-two 3/4-inch-long pieces. Arrange three longer pieces and three shorter pieces to form a flag pattern on each cupcake. With blue frosting, pipe nine dots in each open corner to form "stars."

4TH OF JULY STAR CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 12 cupcake cups with paper liners. Grease top of cupcake pan to help remove baked cupcakes.
• Place the cake mix, water, vegetable oil, and eggs into a large mixing bowl, and mix with an electric mixer on slow speed for 30 seconds to combine ingredients. Increase speed to medium, and beat 1 more minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Spoon the batter into the lined cupcake cups, filling them to the brim. Cupcakes will rise and bake over top of the liners, making wide, round tops.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 25 minutes; check after 20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan completely. Gently run a knife underneath the cupcake tops to separate them from the pan so cupcakes can be removed, but leave in the pan.
• Cut the green stem end from each berry, leaving a flat platform on the end. Slice each berry into quarters by cutting in half, then rotating berry and cutting in half again crosswise. There will be a total of 60 triangle-shaped berry pieces.
• To decorate, cut the wide rim of a cupcake top into a star shape with a sharp paring knife by cutting out 5 shallow triangles, evenly spaced around the top. Leave the middle of the cupcake uncut, and discard cut-out portions. Frost the cupcake with the white frosting, following the star shape of the top and leaving the cut-out portions unfrosted. Place 3 blueberries into the center of the cupcake, and place 5 strawberry slices surrounding the blueberries, cut sides down and points facing outward, to make a large strawberry star. Repeat for remaining cupcakes.

PATRIOTIC 4TH OF JULY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Prepare cake mix according to package directions.
• In a small bowl, combine 1 1/3 cups batter with blue food coloring. In another small bowl, combine red food coloring with 1 1/3 cups batter. Leave the remaining batter plain.
• Fill paper-lined muffin tins with 2 tablespoons red batter, 2 tablespoons plain batter, and 2 tablespoons blue batter. Do not swirl batter, leave it layered.
• Bake at 350ºF for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a cupcake comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes in pan and then remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Frost with vanilla frosting and decorate with sprinkles.

4TH OF JULY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease 10 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
• Drain blueberries from muffin mix. Mix muffin mix, water, oil, and eggs together in a bowl until batter is just mixed; fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each to the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 16 to 21 minutes. Cool until able to be handled and cut tops off each cupcake, reserving tops for a separate use.
• Spread cream cheese frosting, starting from the middle and working outwards, onto each cupcake bottom. Arrange fruit roll strips onto each, forming "stripes" and place 2 blueberry halves in the left corner of each for the "stars".