Red White and Blue Cupcakes

Red white and blue cupcakes are delicious white chocolate cupcakes topped with red white and blue buttercream frosting. Great for holidays like Memorial Day or 4th of July!

Red white and blue cupcakes are a fun and festive dessert that’s perfect for holidays like 4th of July or Memorial Day!

These light and fluffy white chocolate cupcakes are topped with rich vanilla buttercream frosting. They’re sure to be a hit at any summer gathering!

Ingredient notes

• Butter: I use salted butter. If using unsalted butter, increase the salt by 1/4 teaspoon in the cupcakes and add a few pinches of salt to the frosting.
• Granulated sugar
• Egg whites
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Vanilla extract
• Milk: Whole milk makes for richer, softer cupcakes. If you’d prefer, you can use another type of milk.
• White chocolate: Be sure to use a good-quality baking chocolate so that it will melt well.
• Powdered sugar: Sift the powdered sugar to help avoid lumpy frosting.
• Heavy cream: Heavy cream helps to make the frosting whip up lighter and fluffier. If you’d prefer, you can use milk or half-and-half.
• Food coloring

How to make red white and blue cupcakes

Below you’ll find step-by-step instructions and photos to help you make perfect cupcakes!

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 18-20 muffin tin cups with cupcake papers. Set aside.

Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Step 3: Place the white chocolate in the microwave. Heat in 20 second intervals until completely melted, stirring between each interval.

Step 4: Add the white chocolate to the sugar mixture.

Step 5: Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Mix just until combined. Be careful to not over mix.

Step 6: In another bowl, beat the egg whites until the beaters begin to leave tracks. Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

Step 7: Carefully fold the egg whites into the cupcake mixture.

Step 8: Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins, filling each about ⅔ of the way.

Step 9: Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Step 10: Remove from oven, and let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Step 11: Remove to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool to room temperature.

Step 12: To make the buttercream, beat the butter and the powdered sugar together on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium high and continue to beat until light and fluffy.

Step 13: Beat in the vanilla and heavy cream, adding more heavy cream as needed to make the correct consistency.

Step 14: Transfer the frosting into three separate bowls. Add the blue food coloring to one bowl and the red to a second bowl. Leave the third bowl without food coloring. Mix in the food coloring until well-combined.

Step 15: Transfer each color into a piping bag.

Step 16: Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it on your counter. Then take the blue color piping bag and spread a line over the plastic wrap. The line should measure approximately the length of your piping bag. It should fit into the bag and fill it almost completely in length.

Step 17: Repeat the process with the red and then the uncolored frosting.

Step 18: Repeat the lines for all three colors. You should have 6 total lines of frosting next to each other.

Step 19: Roll the plastic wrap up to form a cylinder.

Step 20: Tie up the edges. Cut one of the ends and place the cut end into the bottom of another piping bag with the decorating tip.

Step 21: Pipe the frosting onto each cupcake, from the outside inwards, and serve.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The cupcakes will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored in the fridge.

More red white and blue desserts!

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