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Firecracker “Surprise Inside” Cupcakes

Firecracker “Surprise Inside” cupcakes that are perfect for July 4th! Cut into your cupcake to find a gorgeous star shape which bring your baking to a whole new level!

I come from a really patriotic family. With my husband 3rd generation military and much of our family and friends serving, July 4th really brings out the red, white, and blue for me. Now last year I made Firecracker sugar cookies and you all seemed to love them. In fact the internet loved them so much that they went viral. So this year in a tradition of patriotic and holiday baking, I wanted to give you a few thingsĀ new to try – and to share.

Firecracker “Surprise Inside” Cupcakes

Firecracker Surprise inside cupcakes with poprock "firecrackers"

Conceptually these are easy, but because I used cupcakes it tends to be a bit more compact and therefore your “surprise” will need to be a lot more detailed.

Here is how I did it.

First, you will need to make up your blue and red cake. As I stated above I used a blue raspberry flavored cake and added a darker blue food dye to make it stand out more and a pink lemonade that I darkened with red food dye. I use the Wilton Color right in my foods and my crafts because the colors work the best! Ā You can buy natural dyes if you prefer or other flavored cakes. Once the two batters were ready, I used spoons to drop in the different colors in a mixed up pattern…think tie dye. Ā Bake this cake according to instructions on box.

While your red and blue cake is baking, make up your white batter. Once your red/blue cake is done, cool completely.

Cut your cake in half so its about an inch on each layer and easy to cut a small star cookie cutter into.

Firecracker Cupcakes, surprise inside Star cupcake

Cut out small stars. Your star should be about 1 inch thick depending on the size of your cupcake pan.

Add star standing up inside your cupcake. You can stack more than one star back to back if need be.

Pour white batter around star taking care that your stars stay standing. Cook according to box. Take out and cool completely.

Firecracker Surprise inside cupcakes with poprock "firecrackers"

Once cooled, decorate! I love to use pop rocks around this time of the year because it makes a “firecracker” pop when you eat it! I find that the kids love it. And when you cut your cupcakes open..SURPRISE! Its a star!

Firecracker "Surprise Inside" Cupcakes

  • 3 boxes of cake mix
  • pop rocks
  • icing
  • small star cookie cutter
  • Wilton Performance Color Right dye
  1. First, you will need to make up your blue and red cake. As I stated above I used a blue raspberry flavored cake and added a darker blue food dye to make it stand out more and a pink lemonade that I darkened with red food dye. I use the Wilton Color right in my foods and my crafts because the colors work the best! Ā You can buy natural dyes if you prefer or other flavored cakes. Once the two batters were ready, I used spoons to drop in the different colors in a mixed up pattern…think tie dye. Ā Bake this cake according to instructions on box.
  2. While your red and blue cake is baking, make up your white batter. Once your red/blue cake is done, cool completely.
  3. Cut your cake in half so its about an inch on each layer and easy to cut a small star cookie cutter into.
  4. Cut out small stars. Your star should be about 1 inch thick depending on the size of your cupcake pan.
  5. Add star standing up inside your cupcake. You can stack more than one star back to back if need be.
  6. Pour white batter around star taking care that your stars stay standing. Cook according to box. Take out and cool completely.

 

 

54 thoughts on “Firecracker “Surprise Inside” Cupcakes”

  1. These are so super cute! I decided to make four dozen of these for tomorrow’s festivities. The cutting of the stars was pretty tedious. I used Betty Crocker mix and they just crumbled on me. So I packed the cutter with the dough. I made a big mistake when baking. I poured the batter in first and then added the star so it just pushed the star to the surface as it cooked. Bummer! Totally my error. Was so excited about these. If I do this again I will try putting the star in FIRST per the instructions and see how I do, but honestly I don’t think I’ll even try…just not worth all the work. When someone bites into the cupcake, if they don’t hit it at the right angle, it won’t even look like a star just a streak of color. I think I will just tie dye the batter and call it a day. Love the pop rocks idea!

  2. These cupcakes make me happy šŸ™‚ I pinned them from the VMG206 link party but had to come over to see exactly how you made them. How creative, I would have never come up with this but I am happy to now have a cool recipe to take to parties to wow my friends. Thanks for sharing.

  3. What beautiful, patriotic cupcakes that are PERFECT for an Independence Day celebration! I love the addition you made to them… what a fantastic surprise!

    This recipe was one of my favorites shared during last week’s That’s Fresh Friday link-up! I’ll be sharing it at my blog tonight as a fave. Please stop by and join in on the fun this week, too! Keep up the great work, and I can’t wait to see what you do next!

  4. We do 4th of July up big at my house! I love this idea and can’t wait to try it out!! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!

  5. I *just* saw these on pinterest and wondered how you got the super cute star in the middle!! What a FUN surprise when you bite into this yummy snack!! šŸ™‚ I think my boys would LOVE this sweet treat this holiday!

  6. What a cute idea! I love the cupcake liners, too!
    Thank you for sharing your post this week at Brag About It Link Party on VMG206. I’m featuring you at Next Weeks Brag About It Link Party, Monday at midnight!
    ~ Megin of VMG206

  7. That is so cool!! My little ones would love that. I wish I had seen this sooner because I could have done it for their birthday!! What a fun idea and I am stoked that it actually works!!

    • That is a great question and no, they were not at all! I know, I was surprised too. I did bake the stars and cooled them, cut and immediately put them back into the cake. I didnt wait a day or anything

  8. Wow does this look amazing! Great 4th of July dessert. I found you over at The New Mrs. Adventures Tasty Tuesday party. I host Tickle My Tastebuds Tuesday and would love it if you linked up this recipe. Iā€™m sure our party goers would love it as much as I do. Here is the link http://bit.ly/1l4cu0j. Have a wonderful day!!

  9. these are AWESOME!! I’m hosting a beach party this weekend and although it’s not a patriotic party, I’m gunna have to do this (maybe with different colors)

  10. OMG! This is super cute. I have to do these for our family get together this year. The entire family would love them and drive themselves nuts trying to figure out how I got the star inside. Pinning this for later! Stopping by from the Makers Link Party.

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