Red, White and Blue Cupcakes | Easy 4th of July Dessert Recipe (2024)

This easy cupcake recipe is the perfect addition to your Memorial Day, Labor Day, or Fourth of July celebration. These red, white and blue cupcakes are a simple Patriotic treat to show your love for America. Stop by the lake and see how easy it is to make these Patriotic cupcakes!

It’s hard to believe that summer is here! To celebrate the official kickoff to summer, myself and three of my blogging friends have created a roundup of summer-themed posts for your reading pleasure. You can see their amazing work by scrolling to the end of this post. My contribution to the summer roundup? These delicious Red, White and Blue Cupcakes. Yum, yum, yum!

Can I let you in on a little secret about these Red, White and Blue Cupcakes? The actual cupcake is made from a doctored-up store-bought cake mix. Yep, you heard you me right, a boxed cake mix! This isn’t the first time I’ve done this sneaky trick on the blog, either. I fancied up a store-bought cake mix for Patrick’s birthday when I made these Kahlua and Amaretto Infused Cupcakes. Man oh man were those to die for!

I really have some awesome things to share on the blog. Become part of my Lake Life State of Mind Community and you’ll never skip a beat. You’ll receive free access to my resource library filled with tons of printables to use for organizing, entertaining, and just staying SANE! Plus you’ll receive my weekly newsletter filled with the realities of my day to day life. Click here to join. I’m quite entertaining!

Because of the ease of the actual cake layer in these cupcakes, I decided to go a little fancier than I normally do with the decorating portion. Not only did I make a homemade marshmallow frosting for these Red, White and Blue Cupcakes, but I also dipped strawberries in blue candy melts as toppers. I must admit, I am pretty pleased with the way these Red, White and Blue cupcakes turned out. They say we eat with our eyes first, and if that’s the case, these cupcakes completely hit the mark.

So what do I need to make these Red, White and Blue Cupcakes?

For the cake:

1 box white cake mix, 1 cup sour cream, ½ vegetable oil, 3 large eggs

For the marshmallow frosting:

½ cup sugar, 2 tbsp water, 2 large egg whites, 7 oz. container marshmallow fluff

For strawberry toppers:

1 pint of strawberries, 12 oz. package candy melts (blue)

I started with the strawberry toppers because the candy melts need time to set in the refrigerator. I purchased my blue candy melts from Joann Fabric along with the festive cupcake holders I used.

Using a knife, carefully cut off the stem of the strawberry to make a flat bottom.

You want the strawberry to be able to stand up like so.

Next, melt the blue candy melts according to the directions on the back of the package.

Once the candy is melted, carefully dip the strawberries inside to coat them.

Place them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and put them in the fridge to set. I only dipped about half the strawberries so I could alternate dipped and undipped on the finished cupcakes.

Now it’s time to make the cupcakes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Simply add your store-bought cake mix, sour cream, 3 eggs and vegetable oil to your stand-up mixer and combine all the ingredients together.

You want your cupcake mixture to look like this.

Next, use cupcake liners and line a cupcake tray with them. Using an ice cream scoop, fill your cupcake liners about ¾ full.

Place in the oven for about 18 – 20 minutes or until the cupcakes are golden brown like so.

Put the cupcakes on a wire rack and let them cool completely before frosting them.

*Note: I was able to make 24 cupcakes with this recipe.

Now for the marshmallow frosting. You are actually going to make this on the stove top. Since there are raw egg whites in the mixture, you need to cook the frosting over low heat so it’s safe to eat.

Place all your frosting ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place the stove on low, and using a hand mixer, constantly stir the marshmallow mixture. You want to continue mixing until your frosting comes to soft peaks, just like so.

Pull the frosting off the burner and you’re ready to start decorating.

To decorate the cupcakes. Simply dip the top of a cooled cupcake into the marshmallow frosting.

You want to cover the entire top of the cupcake and then place it on a wire rack.

Continue frosting all your cupcakes.

All that’s left to do is top your cupcakes with the strawberries. I did half with the candy-covered strawberries and half plain.

Place the cupcakes on a pretty serving dish and watch them disappear.

These Red, White and Blue Cupcakes are sure to bring the “wow” factor this summer. Be sure to make them for your Memorial Day, Labor Day and 4th of July BBQs and you’ll definitely win some brownie points, or should I say cupcake points, with your guests. Enjoy!

Don’t stop here! Remember to visit my blogging friends for some more summer-inspired posts!

Stony Ridge Farm: Summer Solstice Seasonal Living Guidebook

The Digi Crafter: 3 Secrets For Scrapping Summer

StephShares: 7 Tips on How to Improve Summer Body Confidence

Want to remember this? Post this recipe for Red, White, and Blue cupcakes to your favorite Pinterest board!