Fireworks & Cupcakes

Happy Belated 4th of July!!!

For months, we have been planning on heading to the Outer Banks to spend the weekend of the 4th of July at a friends beach house. Lo and behold, the first hurricane to hit the East Coast of the 2014 season decides to aim it's slowing moving self straight for the Outer Banks. Luckily, we managed to be going to the one town in the OBX that acted as the cut off point for the storm's path of destruction and the forecast was still calling for a beautiful weekend in the Carolinas. Our plans changed a little but I spent my rainy 4th of July baking cupcakes in preparation for the weekend ahead. The inspiration: red, white, and blue of course.

Using a vanilla cake batter recipe, I made two batches and dyed one blue and one red. While the batches were baking and cooling, I made a large batch of cream cheese icing and divided it into three parts to dye two red and blue and leave the last one white. I realize 24 cupcakes is not enough to create the full American flag, but I figured people would get the idea... (I was still called out). 

I wanted a different texture for the "stars" icing so I used a 4B tip for the blue and a 1M tip for the red and white.  Since there were so many cupcakes to decorate and then place on a cupcake carrier to transport during the 1.5 hour drive, I placed all of the cupcakes on the carrier first, then decorated. 

This was a quick, fun project to kick off our 4th weekend and I think the cupcakes turned out deliciously.  Never a surprise anymore, I ended up with enough batter to make a mini cake. I used one blue layer, one red layer, all three shades of icing, and chocolate chips to build a sweet treat that would hold us over for the night. 

I am just one week away from picking up my life and moving from one end of the state of Virginia to the other; so bear with me as I try to get settled in over the next few weeks and hopefully unpack in a way that will help me find all of my baking supplies. Until next time, enjoy!!