Stars and Swirls Cupcakes

No, it isn't July in October. These cupcakes were made for an after school family night activity. The activity theme was the Statue of Liberty. I volunteered to bring patriotic, red, white, and blue cupcakes to accompany the Liberty Punch that was being served.

The Cupcakes
Ingredients

• 3 boxes of vanilla cake mix - yield 6 dozen cupcakes
• Red, blue, and yellow Wilton cupcake liners
• Canola oil
• Eggs
• Water

Directions

• Substitute unsweetened applesauce for half of the oil.
• Follow box directions to bake the cupcakes.
• Cool the cupcakes completely

Stars

• Use the recipe below and make rolled butter cream fondant. 
• Using gel food coloring, tint half of the fondant blue and the other half red.
• Roll out the fondant and cut out stars.

rolled butter cream fondant

Silky Smooth Ivory Butter Cream Frosting
Yield: frosting to decorate 5 dozen cupcakes.

Ingredients
2 sticks of salted butter
1/2 cup of vegetable shortening
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-2 tsp. lemon juice, bottled
1/4 to 1/2 cup of water
2 lb. bag of confectioners sugar

Directions

• Place butter and vegetable shortening into a mixing bowl.
• Using an electric mixer on low speed, cream the butter and vegetable shortening together for 2-3 minutes until light colored and creamy.
• Add about 1/4 of the confectioners sugar.
• Beat with the mixer on low speed until well blended.
• Add another 1/3 of the remaining confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Continue to mix at low speed until the frosting is well blended. 
• Add 1/4 cup water and half of the remaining confectioners sugar.
• Beat until well blended.
• Add remaining confectioners sugar. 
• Continue to mix with the electric mixer on low speed. Add remaining water 1 Tbsp at a time until the frosting is the desired consistency for decorating. 
• If coloring the frosting, add food coloring now.
• Blend food coloring into the frosting until the desired color is achieved.
• Icing may be thinned slightly, but this is decorating icing and it should pipe easily from the bag and hold its shape well.
• Put a 1M tip into a pastry bag, fill with frosting, and pipe onto cupcakes. Begin on the outside edge of the cupcake and circle inward. End with the pastry bag perpendicular to the center of the cupcake and end with a star.

This is my favorite butter cream frosting to use for piping through a bag.

Small Batch Variation

 Ingredients
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup of vegetable shortening
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup of water
1 lb. of confectioners sugar

Follow the same directions as the large batch recipe.