If at first you dont succeed......

So......where do I start? I knew I wanted to make red, white and blue cupcakes, but I couldnt decide if I wanted to put the color on the top or the bottom.

My previous post was a quick tutorial about layers of red, white and blue buttercream on top of a white cupcake in a silver wrapper.

Since I have an affinity for coloring my food I decided that wasnt enough and it would be fun to color the actual cake. ( Just like the rainbow cupcakes I've made in the past- and that I would add a link to a picture/tutorial of them if I knew how right now. It's the thought that counts, right? Im trying to learn as quickly as I can.....honest.)

Anyway.......I colored the cake red, white and blue and topped them with white buttercream.

So pretty, arent they?

So vibrant and fun! Makes you wanna rip off the paper and ......

cut it in half to enjoy all the color!

But.......is it enough? It felt like something was missing.....like.....um.....more color!! Yes! Yes! Thats the ticket! More color!

I made a striped candy cane cupcake ( again, if I knew how- and you have no idea how much I wish I did- i'd put a link to a pic of that cuppie right here) that to date, received, and is still receiving the most comments ever!

Here's a quick reminder of how to stripe your buttercream:

You need a disposable pastry bag, the tip of your choice ( the larger the better and either round or star tip will work well) gel color and a paint brush.

Cut the pastry bag to fit the tip.

Drop the tip in.

"Paint" stripes from the tip of the bag to about 3/4 of the way up.

Then fill the bag with buttercream. It might be helpful to drop it in, trying to avoid the sides with the gel color.

I used 2 stripes; one red and one blue. I put them on opposite sides.

This was the result. I liked them, but I didnt love them. If at first you dont succeed.......

clean up your stuff, start over, think of the Matrix when you get deja vu and try again!

This time I doubled the stripes- 2red, 2 blue.

Filled the bag again by dropping the buttercream in, twisted the top, pushed the buttercream to the tip and........

I was much happier with the colors!

But then....I thought...is it TOO much now? Oh boy.

I really do like it. Im so fond of the striped cuppie. I do it so often, people ask what happened if I bring cupcakes that arent striped! Figures, right? You dont want to do the same thing again and again, but then people miss it when you dont!

I hope you like these as much as I do and as always, all comments are more than welcome!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

warmly,

jess