Cupcakes:
1/2 cup butter (softened)
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cold milk
red, yellow, and blue food dye
Frosting: (this makes a considerable amount, almost enough for two batches)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
up to 4 tablespoons of milk or cream
red, yellow, and blue food dye
Optional/Decorations
luster dust or edible sparkles
fondant (red, blue, and yellow)
*You can omit the food dye at any or all steps; we chose to do so for the frosting*
Recipes from cooks.com and savorysweetlife.com :)
Okay, before you even start, if you want to make little
insignias to put on top of your cupcakes, you’ll need to get out your fondant.
If you’re lucky enough to have a Starfleet cookie cutter or something,
definitely use that. For those of us who aren’t that fortunate, we can trace
cutouts of them with the tip of a knife or a mini pizza cutter (it took forever). Once you’re
happy with your designs, you can put them on parchment paper or a Silpat and
let them dry the whole time you bake and assemble the cupcakes.
In progress...
It may be a good
idea to do this even the night before you plan to bake so that they dry
completely and don’t flop over the cupcake.
Okay, to baking. Set your phasers to stun at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and
line twelve regular-sized tins with cupcake liners (silver ones are really cool
because, you know, it’s Star Trek). In one bowl, mix the flour, baking powder,
and salt. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together, and then add
the eggs (one at a time), stirring after each addition. Then add the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until smooth. Then, mix in
the milk.
Now, divide the batter into three smaller bowls and mix in the red,
yellow, and blue food colorings. There should be about four cupcakes per color.
(Yes, I actually did color-coordinate the bowls)
Now spoon the batter into the liners and bake until a toothpick comes out
clean, about 12-15 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes, then take them out
of the cupcake tin. Put them on a wire rack to cool completely (otherwise the
frosting will melt and it’ll just be a mess).
To make the frosting, beat the butter for several minutes to
whip it. Then, add the powdered sugar slowly so you don’t get a sweet explosion
over everything. Make sure that the mixer is on the lowest possible setting as
you begin. Then, add the salt, vanilla, and a tablespoon of milk/cream and
increase the mixer speed. If the frosting is too thick, add a bit more
milk/cream, (gradually) until it is the desired texture.
Separate the frosting
into three bowls (if desired) and mix in the red, yellow, and blue until it is the desired
color. Use a large star tip (ha – puns) and a piping bag to add the frosting to
their corresponding colored cupcakes. We had almost no time at the end so we just spread it over... so sorry about that :)
Photoshoot time!
Enjoy!
P.S. We had a tragic accident while transporting the cupcakes:
Some cupcakes fell onto the stove...
Do you see what color they are?
They're redshirts.
