A Delicious Melody: Patriotic Cupcakes (and Multi-Colored Frosting Tutorial)

So, one friends/co-workers just got her US Citizenship this week. She's from New Zealand, but has been in the US for about 10 years now. She lived in the New England for a while, met her (now) hubby and then he was transferred down to NC about a year ago. She took the test last month and just had her Citizenship Ceremony on this past Monday. So, in order to honor her huge accomplishment one of my other co-workers and I threw a little party for her. I made some very Patriotic cupcakes, and my other co-worker brought the card/gift.

Now, I really think Patriotic treats are fantastic any time of year. I love the way that red, white and blue go together to show our love for our Country, support for our Troops and how blessed we are to live here and be free. So, these are perfect for the 4th of July or Memorial Day of course! I went all out making them Red, White and Blue inside and out, which was fun but not totally necessary. You can just use whatever cupcakes you have and them frost them like this if you'd like. :)

Here there are....

I used my favorite white cake recipe by Better Homes and Gardens, and the frosting I used on my Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes but I will also post the recipes below to make it easier.

BH&G White Cake Recipe:

ingredients

4
egg whites
2
cups all-purpose flour
1
teaspoon baking powder
1/2
teaspoon baking soda
1/2
teaspoon salt
1/2
cup butter or shortening, softened
1 3/4
cups sugar
1
teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3
cups buttermilk or sour milk

1.Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour two 9x1-1/2-inch or 8x1-1/2-inch round cake pans or grease one 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set the pan(s) aside. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add egg whites 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Spread batter into the prepared pan(s).

3.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes for 9-inch pans, 30 to 35 minutes for 8-inch pans or 13x9-inch pan, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans. Cool thoroughly on racks. Or, place 13x9x2-inch cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly. Frost with desired frosting.

(You can also use this recipe for cupcakes, just line muffins tins and bake at 350 degree for ~20 minutes. Makes about 24 cupcakes. ~Cindy)

My White Frosting Recipe:
1 T. Water
1/2 c. Shortening
1 t. Vanilla
3-4 c. Powdered Sugar
1 T. Milk
Instructions for Frosting--whip together water and shortening until fluffy. Add in vanilla and 2 c. Powdered Sugar until combined. Add milk and mix thoroughly. Mix in more powdered sugar until it is to your desired consistency I usually use 3.5c. of powdered sugar in this recipe.

Ok, so I made the white cake batter according to the recipe BUT before I put it in the lined tins I split it into thirds and left one white, colored one red and one blue. Then I layered them into my cups. Everyone at work had a pleasant surprise when they bit into the cupcakes! It was priceless to see their expressions! :) You could also just swirl in red and blue coloring into the cups before you bake the cupcakes. (Picture A is layered and B is swirled above.)

Once the cupcakes were baked and cooled, I frosted them using a technique I first learned about on Our Best Bites here. They only ever did it with two colors tho but i just thought it had to work with three so I did it! :) It worked perfectly. It's kind of wasteful is the only prob...but easy to clean up which is a plus.

After you make the frosting split into thirds and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Then keep one white, then tint one red and one blue. I use paste coloring because it's easier to get a more vivid color, tastes better (to me at least), mixes in easier and doesn't change the consistency of the frosting. But work with whatever you prefer or have on hand! :) I used "rose" for the red and "cornflower" for the blue and I really like the way it turned out.

Ok, now prepare a decorating bag with the coupler and tip like normal and set aside. Then get three more bags out. Fill one with the white frosting and tie off with twist tie or rubber band. Fill one with red and tie off. Fill the last one with the blue and tie off. Make them lie flat on counter and get air out of them before you cut the tips off. (You may have to open the end at this point...I didn't have to though, so hoepfully you won't have to.) Cut the tips off, but don't cut too much. Just remember you can always cut more off later, but you can't glue it back on if you cut too much... Carefully insert one flattened bag at a time into the bag prepared with the coupler until it looks something like this below. I did red, white and blue, but you can order them however you want AND of course can use this technique for other colors for other seasons, etc...

Then pull the bag up over the ends and decorate like normal. I am still totally digging the really large tips and couple I recently got. Makes frosting cupcakes go SO fast! I like the faux rose technique most of the time... Love the way it looks in red, white and blue...

Another cupcake....love the way the colors are a little different each swirl that comes out!

Yep, can't get enough of it.... btw these were all take with either my phone or Rocket Scientist's phone because I needed to charge my camera.... Love that phones are finally having pretty great cameras these days! :)