Red, White, and Blue Cupcake Cake

I have waited an entire year to share this cake with you.

Really, I made this almost one year ago for Mother Cookie’s birthday, which is on the 4th of July. I desperately wanted to share its cuteness and patriotic-ness with you ASAP, but I couldn’t share it with you before the 4th of July since I made it that day. I decided to be patient and save it for next year when it’d be more timely.

Naturally, I almost forgot.

Luckily, in looking through photos of last year’s Independence Day celebrations, I was reminded of this too-cute-to-miss cake, and I can share it with y’all in the nick of time. There are several reasons I love this cake:

1. It’s easy; anyone can do it.
2. It’s adorable.
3. It’s customizable.

In fact, I made Red Velvet Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling for this patriotic 4th of July dessert. They were a huge hit, and I know my mama enjoyed them. That said, you can make chocolate, vanilla, or whatever strikes your fancy, and then you can still do the red, white, and blue decor.

Cupcake cakes are so much less work than a regular fancy cake. They’re just basic shapes and colors put together to make an awesome picture, and they’re so shareable. No cake-cutting required! Just grab one and share; no hassle necessary.

Scale this up or down to suite your BBQ this weekend. No matter who’s attending your party, they won’t be able to resist the beautiful colors of this Red, White, & Blue Cupcake Cake. You’ll find they’re extra tasty because they’re flavored with something special: freedom.

God bless America…and cupcakes!

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

1. You can do this with mini cupcakes as well.
2. Find a cute red, white, and blue tray to display this on.
3. For an incredible homemade chocolate cake recipe, I recommend this one. For semi-homemade, try this.
4. Sprinkle red, white, and blue sprinkles over the coordinating colored cupcakes for extra sparkle.
5. You might even enjoy sparkler candles for extra festiveness.

Red, White, & Blue Cupcake Cake
By The Smart Cookie Cook

Ingredients:

•  2 dozen cupcakes (your choice of flavor)
• Whipped Cream frosting, recipe follows
• red food dye
• blue food dye
• Betty Crocker White Cake Icing (comes with detachable tips, so you can use this for the stars)

Whipped Cream Frosting

• 2 cups chilled heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat all whipped cream ingredients on high until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Separate into thirds, two of equal size and one smaller section (so you have 40% + 40% + 20%).
2. Fold blue dye into the smallest section of frosting, then red dye into one of the bigger sections, and leave the last portion white (20% blue, 40% red, 40% white).
3. Frost 6 cupcakes with blue, 9 cupcakes with red, and 9 cupcakes with white.
4. Arrange cupcakes in 6 columns and 4 rows, staggered (they should be off by one cupcake’s height). The columns should be: blue, blue, red, white/blue, blue, red, white/blue, blue, red, white/red, white, red, white/red, white, red, white/red, white, red, white.
5. Use the star tip on the Betty Crocker Frosting two draw white stars on each blue cupcake. You can make all 50 if you like or just do a few.
6. Enjoy or store in fridge in an air-tight container.

I hope you have a great holiday, American Smart Cookie readers!