Red, White & Blue Cupcakes

After the Oreo Cake was done I wanted to try something a little more festive for the holidays. So I choose the patriotic cupcakes on Lick the Bowl Good. She did Triple Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes for hers but I used her Double Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe for mine since I didnt have vanilla sugar. They turned out so cute! I just love the pretty layers of red, white and blue.

Double Vanilla Cupcakes (adapted slightly from Amy Sedaris)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp

1 3/4 cups of sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped (I used 1 full vanilla bean so up the vanilla flavor)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 1/4 cups of milk

In a medium bowl, mix together the salt, baking powder and flour. Mix well and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in mixxing bowl, add in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla extract and seeds of vanilla bean. Beat until well combined.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the butter/sugar mixture. Start and end with flour.

Divide your batter equally into 3 bowls. I used Wiltons Icing Colors, No Taste Red and Royal Blue. The red takes a while to get to the color you want but just add more color as needed.

I scooped the batter into piping bags, I piped red first, then white and topped them off with the blue. This helped keep the layers of colors even throughout.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, mine were done right at 18 minutes. The recipe made about 20 cupcakes.

Vanilla Bean Frosting from Cupcake Bakeshop

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp (1 cup)

1 package cream cheese (8 oz)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

4-5 cups powdered sugar ( I used about 4 1/2 cups)

Cream the butter at a medium speed, add cream cheese and beat until combined. Then add vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, and 3 cups of powdered sugar beat at low speed. Make sure to scrape down sides and blade as needed. Increase to medium speed until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and taste you desire.

I decorated with red sanding sugar, but I wish I would have had some red, white & blue sprinkles! That would have been better. But these worked out fine.

These turned out great! The icing was a hit with everyone so I will definitly be using it again!

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