Festive for the Fourth

^[1]

Here’s a quick and easy idea for the Fourth of July. Like super easy. And a fun little way to make your cupcakes look extra special without too much effort.

It’s like having your cupcakes on parade for the day … or for as long as they last before they get eaten up.

I was inspired by all the cute ideas I’ve seen on Pinterest using cupcake wrappers. It’s amazing how many ways you can use them for things other than baking in them.

^[2]

You just need some red, white and blue baking cups in a couple of different sizes and patterns.

I had several on hand that worked out great.

Jumbo white baking cups ^[3]
Red and white striped large candy cups ^[4]
Stars and stripes regular baking cups ^[5]
Solid red regular baking cups ^[6]

But you can use any combination of sizes, color and pattern that you want to try out.

Check out bakeitpretty ^[7], cakeart ^[8], and confectioneryarts ^[9] for tons more colors and designs.

^[10]

Okay… the easy part. But I’m sure you already have that figured out.

All you do is spread open the wrappers and invert them so the colors are facing up when you lay them down. Super simple.

Then place the larger size on bottom and a smaller size on top. You can use a piece of double-sided tape to attach them together.

^[11]

FYI – the jumbo white baking cups I used are on the left and not the king-size baking cups shown on the right. I don’t have the packaging any more but I wanted to show you them side-by-side for comparison. The king size would be too big.

So that’s the scoop on the baking cups.

Now we need actual cupcakes.

^[12]

Jimmies for July!!!

These are going in the cupcake batter.

^[13]

You know I think this is the first time I’ve added sprinkles to cake batter. How can that be? I mean itt totally makes cake happier.

^[14]

I didn’t measure how many I added. I know. Not very helpful. But however many you decide to add… add more. It’s all good.

^[15]

I baked the cupcakes in the solid red baking cups and then layered two different sizes underneath. But you can also just use one baking cup underneath like on the right – especially if it’s festive like this stars and stripes design.

^[16]

They remind me of bunting and those tissue paper fan decoration thingys you see hanging for the fourth. That’s what I was going for anyway.

And they’d be a great way to put your cupcakes on display for a party.

For the cupcakes:

I used the vanilla cake recipe from this snow cones post ^[17] a couple of weeks ago (minus the food coloring).

For the frosting:

Beat 1 package cheesecake instant pudding mix, 1 cup cold milk, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar for 2 minutes. Gently fold in 8 oz. COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (thawed).
When combined, place frosting in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up a bit for piping. Or simply spread frosting on top of cupcakes. Store cupcakes in refrigerator until ready to serve. Up to 2 days. Oh … and don’t forget to add sprinkles.

^[18]

Yum. And yes, I could have used a few more of these jimmies inside.

Easy, right?

Well if you want to take the wrapper presentation a step further, try making them into ribbons.

^[19]

Cute!

• Cut red card stock paper in 1.75 inch strips for the rich red border. Fold each strip in the middle to form a V.
• Print out this pdf artwork ^[20] on white paper. Cut out the art and use double-sided tape to attach to the red card stock for a layered ribbon look.
• Then cut out triangle shapes at the end of each strip to finish off the look.
• Tape to the bottom of the layered cupcake wrappers.
• Voila… ribbons!

^[21]

Hope you have a Happy 4th! In a couple of weeks that is.