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I’m on a roll with these festive patriotic recipes that are perfect for July 4th! This week I adapted my Patriotic Confetti Cake into cupcakes. Except these Patriotic Confetti Cupcakes are filled with blueberry filling, and topped with a fluffy and sweet frosting and sprinkles.
Why I Process The Sprinkles
I process the sprinkles in a food processor because this cake batter is so light that if I left the sprinkles whole, they would fall to the bottom.
Confetti Cake
- Festive sprinkles: Use red white and blue jimmies for a festive cake.
- Whole Milk: the fat in whole milk tenderizes the cake crumb which weakens the gluten just enough for the cake to have structure.
- Egg Whites: helps leaven the cake.
- Vanilla Extract: flavor enhancer.
- Cake Flour: helps produce a fine crumbed cake.
- Granulated Sugar: incorporates into the batter easily and helps sweeten the cake.
- Baking Powder: is a mixture of baking soda, and cornstarch. Baking powder works when it first comes into contact with liquid, and again when it hits the heat of the oven. TIP: Baking powder loses its effectiveness after six months.
- Salt: enhances the flavor of the ingredients.
- Unsalted Butter: helps with flavor and texture. This recipe uses the reverse creaming method where the butter coats the dry ingredients instead of creaming together with the sugar.
Blueberry Filling
This blueberry filling is super easy to make and can be made up to a week in advance. Plus you can easily substitute different flavors by swapping out the type of frozen fruit you use.
Frosting
Keeping with the patriotic theme I chose an American Buttercream, also known as frosting (at least to me) to top these Patriotic Confetti Cupcakes. American buttercream, or frosting is a sweet frosting made with a mix of butter and shortening. Plus, I like to use a baking emulsion called Princess Cake and Cookie, which gives this frosting a fresh-from-the-bakery flavor.
Cupcake Assembly
- Using a small paring knife, cut a cone of cake out of each cupcake. Cut off the cone section of cake and discard, but keep the circular top of cake to place back onto the cupcake after filling.
- Place the filling in a piping bag and cut off the tip to start filling each cupcake with about 2 teaspoons of filling. Place the circular piece of cake back on top.
- Fit a piping bag with Ateco piping tip #828 and fill with frosting. Pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Sprinkle the cupcakes with patriotic sprinkles and top with a festive cupcake pick and serve.
Cupcake Baking and Decorating Tools
- 2 12-cup cupcake pans
- Cupcake liners
- Food processor
- Patriotic sprinkles
- Stand mixer
- Spring loaded ice cream scoop, 3 tablespoon sized
- Sieve
- Piping bags (2)
- Ateco piping tip #828
- Festive cupcake picks
Patriotic Confetti Cupcakes Baking Schedule
- Day 1: Bake cupcakes and make filling.
- Day 2: Prepare frosting, assemble and serve.
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Suggested Recipes
Patriotic Confetti Cupcakes
Light and airy Patriotic Confetti Cupcakes filled with blueberry filling, topped with fluffy frosting and garnished with festive sprinkles and a shining star.
Ingredients
SPECIAL TOOLS
- 2 12-cup cupcake pans
- Cupcake liners
- Food processor
- Patriotic sprinkles
- Stand mixer
- Spring loaded ice cream scoop, 3 tablespoon sized
- Sieve
- Piping bags (2)
- Ateco piping tip #828
- Festive cupcake picks
CUPCAKES
- ½ cup patriotic sprinkles
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups (9 ounces) cake flour
- 1 ¾ cups (12 ¼ ounces) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, at room temperature
BLUEBERRY FILLING
- 12 ounces frozen strawberries, thawed
- ¼ granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 3 tablespoons cold water
- Fresh lemon juice, to taste
FROSTING
- 2 cups (16 ounces/454 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (3 1/4 ounces/95.5 grams) shortening
- Pinch of salt
- 6 1/2 cups (26 ounces/820 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 teaspoons Princess Cake and Cookie Emulsion
Instructions
CUPCAKE
- Adjust a rack to the center position in the oven and heat to 350 degrees. Line 2 12-cup cupcake pans with cupcake liners and set aside. In a food processor, process the sprinkles until coarsely ground, about 8 to 10 pulses. Set aside until needed.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the milk, egg whites and vanilla.
- Attach the paddle attachment to a stand mixer. On low speed combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter one piece at a time. Continue to combine until the butter is the size of peas, about 1 minute. Reserve ½ cup of the milk mixture, and pour remaining into the dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the reserved milk mixture to the batter and beat until combined, about 30 seconds (the batter may look curdled at this point). Give the batter a final stir by hand and stir in ground sprinkles.
- Using a 3 tablespoon sized spring loaded ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake pans. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, rotating pans a little over halfway through baking. Let cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then invert cakes onto the wire racks to cool completely, about 2 hours.
BLUEBERRY FILLING
- Place thawed blueberries in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Over a bowl pour blueberry puree over a sieve to remove the solids. The puree will be thick. Use a spoon to stir and press the puree through the sieve.
- Place blueberry puree in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add sugar and cornstarch mixture and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming. Once the puree thickens, remove from the heat. Cool for 5 minutes and then add fresh lemon juice. Chill for about 2-3 hours in the refrigerator until ready to use.
FROSTING
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached, beat the butter, shortening and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 8 minutes. Add the heavy cream, emulsion and heavy cream and slowly mix until combined, about 1 minute.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.
ASSEMBLE
- Using a small paring knife, cut a cone of cake out of each cupcake. Cut off the cone section of cake and discard, but keep the circular top of cake to place back on to the cupcake after filling.
- Place the filling in a piping bag and cut off the tip to start filling each cupcake with about 2 teaspoons of filling. Place the circular piece of cake back on top.
- Fit a piping bag with Ateco piping tip #828 and fill with frosting. Pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Sprinkle the cupcakes with patriotic sprinkles and top with a festive cupcake pick and serve.
Notes
STORAGE: Assembled cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, or stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1104Total Fat: 59gSaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 3gUnsaturated Fat: 32gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 1016mgCarbohydrates: 142gFiber: 6gSugar: 100gProtein: 11g
*Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary.*