I like to make a festive dessert every year, so this year I decided to make an American Flag out of cupcakes. I used the yellow cake recipe that I used to make the homemade funfetti cupcakes, minus the sprinkles. I used a Paula Deen recipe for the Red Velvet Cupcakes. After making sure that I had enough yellow cake cupcakes for the white stripes, I dyed the rest of the batter blue. I decorated the yellow cake with white icing and silver sugar sprinkles, and I used red icing and and red sugar sprinkles for the red velvet. I used blue icing and the silver sugar sprinkles as well as star candles for the blue part of the flag. I had looked for sparklers, but the small Kroger right by my house didn’t order sparklers this year (how unpatriotic!). In order to save time and make my life a lot easier, I used the Betty Crocker cake and cupcake icing.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons red food coloring
- 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
