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Fireworks Cupcakes

Fireworks cupcakes are easy patriotic cupcakes with tall swirled vanilla buttercream peaks, tri-color piping, and red/blue star sprinkles topped with sparkler picks. Perfect for 4th of July cupcakes—light, fluffy frosting and a dramatic “firework burst” look.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 24 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 420
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Vanilla cupcakes
  • 1 box white or vanilla cake mix Use cake mix plus the ingredients listed on the box (usually eggs, water, and oil/butter).
  • ingredients listed on the cake mix box Include eggs, water, and oil/butter as directed on your specific cake mix box.
Buttercream
  • 1 cup unsalted butter Softened.
  • 4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp heavy cream Add 3–4 tbsp as needed for pipeable texture.
  • 1 red and blue gel food coloring Use enough to make one batch red and one batch blue.
  • 1 red, white, and blue star sprinkles
  • 1 sparkler picks or flag picks For decoration (insert into the frosted center).

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 stand mixer

Method
 

Bake and cool
  1. Preheat and bake cupcakes according to package directions in lined muffin tins, then cool completely on a wire rack so the frosting won’t melt.
Make the vanilla buttercream
  1. In a stand mixer, beat softened unsalted butter until fluffy.
  2. Gradually add powdered sugar, then beat in vanilla extract and heavy cream.
  3. Beat on high for 3 minutes until very light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed for smooth texture.
Color the frosting
  1. Divide the buttercream into three portions: leave one white, color one red, and color one blue with gel food coloring.
Pipe tall tri-color swirls
  1. Load a piping bag fitted with a large star tip with all three colors side by side for a tri-color swirl.
  2. Pipe a tall swirled peak of frosting onto each cooled cupcake, using a steady upward motion for a dramatic “fireworks” shape.
Top and serve
  1. Shower each cupcake with red, white, and blue star sprinkles so the peaks look dusted with stars.
  2. Insert a sparkler pick into the center and serve immediately.

Notes

For the cleanest towering swirl, make sure cupcakes are fully cool before piping. Store unfrosted or freshly frosted cupcakes covered in the fridge for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature for best texture. Freezing is okay for unfrosted cupcakes (freeze baked cupcakes up to 2 months), but the decorated tops are best made day-of. For a lighter option, replace part of the powdered sugar with a smaller amount of powdered sugar and thin with extra cream until pipeable (texture will be softer).