Crowd Pleasing 4th of July Cupcakes & Cake

Good morning! I hope that your week is going well. The weather here has been fabulous and it finally feels like summer; sunny, hot and steamy.

For many this weekend is all about vacations, beach time, barbecues, family, friends and of course food. If you are invited to a party this weekend I have the easiest cake/cupcake recipe (it starts with a cake mix)  for you to take along.

You can make them fancy or you can simply add a little fruit and you have a beautiful and scrumptious treat.

White Almond Cake

Recipe Food.com

NOTE: I made 2 6 inch rounds and 6 cupcakes with this recipe but you can also make 2 8 inch round cake pans

Ingredients

1 (18oz) Box white cake mix

1 cup flour

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

11/3 cup of water

1/8 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

11/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup sour cream

4 large egg whites

Directions

Place all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir together with a wire whisk. Add the remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into greased and floured or greased and parchment lined, 2 8″ inch round cake pans or 2 6″ inch pans and 6 cupcakes. 

Pans should not be over half filled or they will over flow in your over. Tap pans lightly on the counter to release air bubbles. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven. The baking times will vary with the size of the pans. Bake cupcakes for 12-18 minutes. Check for doneness. 6″ pans bake about 15-25 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center, should be golden brown and come out almost clean.  Remove pans from over, let cool for 5 minutes, remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. This cake is very sticky so I recommend lining the wire rack with waxed paper or parchment before you turn the cake out of the pan. 

Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks softened butter

1 lb. powder sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

1-5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter for 1-3 minutes until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low until mixture resembles small pebbles, then add the vanilla and a little of the heavy whipping cream. Beat the mixture, adding more whipping cream if needed, until mixture is at spreading consistency. 

Once the cakes have cooled frost the cake and add fruit for garnish. As for the cupcakes, I spent a little time tinting frosting to match the holiday and then decorated the 6 cupcakes with a star tip. You can leave the buttercream white and frost the cupcakes or you can tint the buttercream to your desired color. I discovered when I was getting ready to decorate that I was out of red food coloring so I ended up using colored sugar. I case you are wondering, I used Wilton gel food coloring to get the blue color. 

If you have a favorite white cake recipe I would love to try it. I really like white cakes and am always looking for a new recipe to try, especially one from scratch. 

Have a fabulous day!