Happy 236th Birthday, America! We’re, of course, celebrating with some ice cream this weekend… in the form of cupcakes. Firework cupcakes.
Ingredients (makes 24 cupcakes)
For the ice cream:
– 1/2 lb strawberries or blueberries
– 3/4 cup sugar
– 1/2 cup cream
– 1/4 cup cream cheese
For the cake:
– 1 batch white cake batter
– red and blue food coloring
For the icing:
– 2 egg whites
– 3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
– red and blue food coloring
– wafer cookies
STEP 1: THE ICE CREAM
De-stem the strawberries and cook over medium heat with 1/2 cup sugar until soft. Set aside. When they’re cool, throw them in the food processor until pureed.
Meanwhile, microwave your cream cheese until soft. Whisk in 1/4 cup sugar until combined, then stir in 1/2 cup cream until combined. Add in the puree’d fruit and mix thoroughly.
Place in a shallow bowl of tupperware and place in the freezer. Remove from freezer and stir every half hour for 2 hours.
STEP 2: THE CAKE
Easy! Follow the directions on your cake mix. Once mix is ready, divide in half and add food coloring to each, one red and one blue. (We added about 10 drops for a brighter cake).
Drop about 1 tbsp of batter into each cupcake liner. Bake for about 10 minutes (note this is shorter than the time recommended on the batter box because you are using less batter in each cupcake). Allow to cool in the pan to room temperature. Then place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
STEP 3: COMBINE THE ICE CREAM & CAKE (!)
Once ice cream has almost hardened in the freezer (about 2 hours, removing and stirring every half hour), scoop about 2 tbsp ice cream onto each cupcake. We alternated red cake with blueberry ice cream, blue cake with strawberry ‘scream. Return to freezer and let harden for about 1 hour.
STEP 4: THE ICING WAFER
In a bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Add in 1 cup of sifted powdered sugar at a time, whisking furiously to combine. After the third cup of sugar, the icing will be thick. Divide icing into three and scoop into a bag.
Drop about 5 drops of blue food coloring into one bag and mix until combined, and 5 drops of red food coloring into the second bag and mix until combined, and leave the third bag white.
Cut a small hole in each bag and pipe the frosting out. Pipe colored rings or dots onto the frosting. Immediately (before the icing hardens) drag a toothpick or pointed knife through the colors to create bursts to create shapes and bursts. Have fun with it!
Before ice cream has fully hardened, remove from freezer and place one wafer on top of each cupcake. You can set it right on top as the third layer, or angle it as an accessory.
