4th of July ~ CUPCAKES

Happy {belated } 4th of July!

I don't know where the time has gone. June was such a busy month, as usual, and now July is already here. YIKES.

Since I haven't posted for a few weeks I have a lot to share but thought I would start with the cupcakes I made Monday for our annual 4th of July neighborhood BBQ.  This year even numbered houses were assigned dessert so I decided to make some festive cupcakes. I started by making 24 chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. For a little added decoration on top I made some edible "firecrackers" out of marshmallows dipped in red candy melts with little licorice wicks and put those on half and for the other half I cut out red and blue stars to use as toppers.

I also happened to have some very ripe bananas that I thought would be perfect for making a double batch of banana cupcakes with vanilla butter cream frosting so I made those as well and added chocolate ganache, sprinkles, sweetened whip cream and a cherry on top for Banana Split Cupcakes. For the other half I simply stuck a vanilla wafer on top for those that prefer something more simple.

So there you have it, two varieties of cupcakes decorated four different ways, bringing the grand total to 48 cupcakes in all! A very fun and productive baking day!