Sparkler Cupcakes-Happy Independence Day!

I’ve been wanting to make these for a while, but I admit that me, fire, and cooking might not be the best combination. Throw in a camera on a tripod and my grandmother’s antique cake stand and it’s just a whole new level of chaos waiting to happen. My goal was to finish these without burning skin, burning down the house, and burning Frankie. Thankfully, he slept under the bed through the whole thing, so Mr. Curiosity wasn’t a problem.

What’s hilarious is I thought I could whip out gourmet looking cupcakes. Have I ever taken a class on cake decorating? Why, no. Have I ever even googled how to make cool icing designs with a ziplock bag and pair of scissors? Nope. But I winged it. And I learned that sprinkles can cover a multitude of sins.

Here is my first attempt at fancy schmancy cupcakes and I even set them on fire.

Red, White, and Blue cupcakes. This is a low-sugar recipe that makes 12 big cupcakes.

• 1 cup  sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the sugar and eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix for 2 minutes.

Divide the batter into 3rds. Add blue food coloring to 1/3 of the batter. Add red food coloring to another 1/3 batter. Leave the other 3rd white.

Layer the colors in muffin cups. I put the white between the red and blue so they wouldn’t mix and make purple. The white in the middle worked really well.

Cook 16 min on 350*

Cool completely.

Ice when cool. Add sprinkles.

Set them on fire and grab a picture. Try not to trip the tripod. Or set your napkin on fire. I managed to do both. And I set off the fire alarm from INSIDE the house even thought I was outside.

Cut open and wow your friends with the marble colors. Assuming setting your hair, eyebrows, and nose on fire didn’t impress them first.