Recipe: Marbled 4th of July Cupcakes!

Creating festive cupcakes are one of my favorite baking items! In this post I will show you how to make 4th of July cupcakes with marble cake and give a few ideas for decoration them. I make this recipe with grocery store box cake mix and my butter cream icing recipe from a prior post.

I love the simplicity of this recipe. Box cake mix is a great save, the mixes are a few dollars, make great cake and are basically error proof. For under $20 you can deliver 24 mini cakes of fun yourself!

For this recipe we will make the cupcakes as the box describes, but with a twist. We will also triple my butter creme recipe to ice 24 cupcakes. To print the buttercream recipe click here. 

Materials and Ingredients:
Cupcakes
- box cake mix (plus ingredients required per box cake mix)
- 30 cupcake cups
- 2 - 12 cavity cupcake baking sheets
- a way to mix batter (stand mixer or spatula and large bowl)
- red and blue food coloring
- 3 medium bowls and mixing spoons
- tablespoon measuring spoon
- toothpicks
Buttercream Icing
- 6 sticks of butter, softened at room temp
- salt
- 4 lbs powdered sugar
- vanilla
- icing piping bag and tips
- food coloring, medium mixing bowls and spoon from making the batter will be used to make the icing
- any additional decorating bits like glitter, sprinkles or edible spray
- box to transport decorated cupcakes

Steps:
1. Mix the cake batter as the box instructs
2. Divide the cake batter equally into the 3 medium bowls 
3. Color one bowl with red coloring and another with blue coloring. Add 6 drops at a time, then mix, until the desired color is achieved.
4. Prep your cupcake cups, by putting the paper cups into your cupcake baking tray.
5. Into each cupcake cup put 1 tablespoon of batter for each color of red, white and blue batter. If you are doing all 24 at once, after each of the 24 cups has gotten 3 table spoons of batter, try to split the remaining batter between the cups by drizzling the remaining batter onto the cupcakes a bit. (see photo)
6. With a toothpick, draw 3 to 4 figure 8's into the bottom of the cupcake cup, this will swirl your batter. You can use the same toothpick for all cupcakes.
7. Bake cupcakes per cake box instructions. Once baked let them cool completely.
Take this time, while the cupcakes cool, to clean up dishes used from baking your cupcakes
8. Now make your butter cream icing per the recipe, triple the recipe to have enough to ice 24 cupcakes. 
9. Separate your icing into 3 medium bowls and color one bowl with red coloring and another with blue coloring. Add 6 drops at a time, then mix, until the desired color is achieved.
10. Put your colored icing into your icing bags and decorate your marbled cakes, don't forget to use your sprinkles and glitter too!

I layered my icing when I decorated my cupcakes so to the right you can see a cross section of my cupcake to see the marbling in the batter!

I hope you are able to spread some festive fun with this cupcake baking technique. Happy 4th of July!!