Festivities for the Fourth

Typically, my celebrations of the 4th of July consist of a picnic or two and overall, simply chilling with family and/or friends and being grateful for my freedoms. And maybe some fireworks... but very little to do with fancy foods.

This year, I intended for it to be about the same. But then, on this most awesome blog, I came across a great idea for patriotic cupcakes.

Now, I don't actually like cupcakes very much; the cake to frosting ratio is just wrong (plus I don't love either cake or frosting).. but these stripey cupcakes were just cute enough to catch my eye. Then, later, I found a recipe for frosting that actually looks tasty. And THEN, while out and about, I found some really fantastically festive, patriotic sprinkles and I knew that the universe had spoken; these cupcakes needed to become a reality.

There was a moment of concern about being able to actually create these tasty treats when our power went out for an evening. But, happily, all was resolved by morning and I was able to bring these cakes into being, before the picnic they were intended for.

And while my kitchen may not be as photogenic as the one in the blog where I originally found the idea (nor am I as experienced as that professional baker/blogger), this was still a fun project!