web analytics

4th of July Cupcake Flag

Posted on

flag cupcakes

This 4th of July Cupcake Flag is the end result of all the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes I posted about earlier, and it would be a perfectly fitting dessert to bring to an Independence Day barbecue or other get-together.

I was inspired by a cupcake flagthat I saw several months ago. I bookmarked the page with the flag’s picture, making a mental note that I needed to give the design a try when the 4th drew closer. Unfortunately, when I went to look back at the instructions, I saw that the large flag called for 54 cupcakes. Since my parties aren’t quite that big, I scaled back the flag and cut the number of cupcakes down to 3 dozen (actually 35 cupcakes, with one for the chef). The effect is the same, but the numbers are more manageable.

The flag’s construction is simple. Bake a batch (1 dozen) of vanilla cupcakes and a batch (2 dozen) of chocolate cupcakes. Make up a batch of vanilla buttercream. Top 9 cupcakes with blue frosting, 11 with red frosting and 15 with white frosting. Alternatively, you can take the lazy shortcut (as I did) and use colored sprinkles to achieve the desired color effect. Arrage on platter in flag pattern.

A simple buttercream recipe follows:

flag cupcakes up close
Quick Buttercream Frosting
1 cup butter, room temerature
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
2-4 tablespoons milk

Cream butter with an electric mixer until soft. Add vanilla and gradually add in sugar until most has been incorporated. Mixture will look a bit sandy. Add in milk as necessary (start with 2 tbsp), along with any remaining sugar, until frosting reaches an easy to work with consistency.

If making the flag, dye the icing as necessary with food coloring. Rewhip before using.

Makes enough to frost 3 dozen cupcakes.

Share this article

7 Comments
  • Jen
    July 1, 2007

    I’m writing from the UK and although I manage to convert amounts and names of American ingredients normally – what is confectioners sugar? Is it like British caster, granulated, icing or something else?

    Thanks

  • LinC
    July 2, 2007

    Confectioners sugar is also called “powdered” sugar. It’s very fine and fluffy, no granules at all. So it’s not caster sugar. Maybe icing sugar?

  • Emily
    July 2, 2007

    In the UK, confectioner’s sugar would be called icing sugar.

  • Jen
    July 2, 2007

    thanks a lot i will be making them – although perhaps not in a celebratory format!!

  • bob
    July 19, 2009

    this is not realyy original so i will not be making them

What do you think?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *