Baking with red, white, and blue...

My go-to recipe to make on the Fourth of July for the past few years is red velvet cupcakes with my brown sugar cream cheese frosting.

 This year, Middle Name Silly and I decided to challenges ourselves to bake something red, white, and blue.

However, I wasn't quite ready to give up that addictive red velvet flavor, so I decided to make a flag-color-pallete inspired velvet cupcake.

Red-tinted cream cheese frosting with a hint of strawberry, blue velvet cake, and creamy white pastry cream filling.

It started with this...

Buttermilk - fresh from a smurf!

The result?

 ♥After the jump...

Creamy, cakey goodness tinted the color of vintage Americana.

Buttermilk Blue Velvet Cupcakes (adapted from Joy the Baker) - makes 48 cupcakes


16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
2 cups plus 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla 
4 cups cake flour
2 1/2 Tablespoons cocoa powder 
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
One 0.3 ounce bottle blue food coloring (I used Durkee brand, which is a bit larger than the standard McCormick)
Half recipe of vanilla pastry cream
Hint of Strawberry Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prep two standard muffin pans with paper cupcake liners.  Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.  Add the salt after sifting and set aside. Measure out the buttermilk and blue food coloring and mix the dye into the buttermilk for easier incorporation later.
Cream the butter and the sugar using an electric mixer, until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, letting the eggs beat for 1 minute in between additions.  Scrape down the bowl in between additions. 
Add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients.  Start by adding one third of the flour mixture.  Mix just to incorporate.  Add half of the buttermilk.  Add another one third of the flour mixture.  Mix to incorporate.  Add the last half of buttermilk, followed by the last third of flour.  
Spoon into cupcake liners - no more than 3/4 full. Bake the cupcakes for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan before removing the cupcakes.
♥ To fill cupcakes: I used a Wilton filling tip hooked up to a pastry bag to pipe the pastry cream into the cupcakes - push the tip into the center and lightly squeeze the bag until you notice the top of the cupcake puff up and feel a bit of resistence (this took a couple practice tries to master - including cutting a cupcake or two open to check the amount of filling).
♥ To frost cupcakes: I used a large Wilton star tip with pastry bag. Pipe outside-in in one motion with the bag at a 45 degree angle to the cupcake for the best results!


Hint of Strawberry Brown Sugar Cream Frosting

3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
40z. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 good sized strawberries, pureed and strained to remove seeds
2 tbsp milk
6-8 cups powdered sugar - depending on desired consistency (I like mine thicker for piping)
Red food color, if desired (I tinted mine a little, but not to the point of fire-engine red)

Cream the butter and cream cheese together in a stand mixer until light and creamy. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes. Turn of the mixer and add 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Mix together on low so the sugar doesn't go flying. Add the pureed strawberries and mix until incorporated. Slowly add more sugar, alternating with the milk (and optional food color), until your desired consistency is reached.