Fire Cracker Cupcakes

Ok, I know its August, but I am really bad about posting to this blog in the summer.  I am to busy enjoying the Jersey Shore, Fire Island and the outdoors.  So I decided I would rather post my 4th of July creations late then wait another year to post them next July.

The Patriotic Fire Cracker Cupcakes are pretty easy to do.  Start with a standard cupcake/cake mix and patriotic cupcake liners.   Bake your cupcakes as directed by your recipe (or box).

I added red and blue sprinkles into the cake batter to make a patriotic funfetti type cake.  Next time I make them I think I will use a white cake so that the effect will be red, white and blue cupcakes.

Make your icing, I used Decorator Icing for these cupcakes.

Materials: You need 3 decorating bags, 3 couplers and the grass tip (Wilton 233 or 244).

Divide your icing into even thirds, then take a little from one bowl and add it to the other so that you have three different amounts of icing.  Dye your largest bowl of icing blue (I suggest using Royal blue icing color for the best Patriotic Blue).   Leave the middle bowl white.  Then dye the smallest bowl of icing red.   Getting a good red color is difficult.  You can try adding some liquid red food coloring, but you will also need to use some gel color, because to much liquid food coloring will make the icing to loose.  Cover all three bowls with a damp towel when you are not using it.

Starting with the blue icing and pipe with the grass tip around the outside edge of each cupcake.     Release pressure as you pull up from the cake so that the edges will drop, creating the outer edge of the fire cracker.  Allow the cupcakes to dry.

Repeat with the white, forming a line around the center of the cupcake, inside from the blue.  Again allow the icing to drop so that you partially cover the blue.  Allow to dry.

Then repeat again with the red, letting it drop over the white, then allow some to stick up and form a center.

You can experiment with the amount of icing to pipe so that you get the nicest fire crackers.