Stars and Stripes Cupcakes

By carvalhohm

Ingredients

• 2 packages (18.25 ounces each) plain yellow cake mix
• 2 packages (3.4 ounces each) vanilla instant pudding mix
• 2 cups milk 2 cups vegetable oil
• 8 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 recipes Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
• 50 fresh blueberries
• 33 medium strawberries, rinsed,drained , patted dry, and stemmed, or 17 large strawberries, cleaned,stemmed and cut virtually in half

Details

Servings 42

Preparation

Step 1

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 48 cupcake cups with paper liners. Se pans aside.

Place cake mixes, pudding mixer, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in very large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop machine and scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down sides again, if needed. Spoon or scoop heaping 1/4 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling two thirds full. (You will bet between 42 and 45 cupcakes, remove empty liners, if any.) Place pans in oven.

Bake cupcakes until golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with finger, 16 to 20 minutes. Remove pans from oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. (Leave oven on if baking in batches.) Run dinner knife around edges of cupcake liners, lift cupcakes up from bottoms of cups using end of knife, and pick them out of cups carefully with fingertips. Place on wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting. (If you are baking in batches, fill cupcake cups with remaining batter, and bake for second batch. You will use only 42 cupcake for this presentation; freeze extras for eating later.)

Meanwhile, prepare frosting.

Place heaping table spoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread out with short metal spatula or spoon taking care to cover tops completely. Place blueberries on 9 of cupcakes, dividing evenly among cupcakes and placing at least 5 on each. Place either large capped strawberries stem-side down or strawberry half cut side down in center of remaining 33 cupcakes. Arrange Cupcakes on large flat serving board in form of American flay by placing 9 blueberry topped cupcakes in top left-hand corner in 3 rows of 3 cupcakes. Complete rows by placing 4 strawberry cupcakes next to each row of blueberry cupcakes (each row should total 7 cupcakes across). Finish flag by placing remaining cupcakes in 3 rows of seven each. You should have 6 rows total. Make sure strawberries are straight so the they resemble stripes of flag. Cupcake flag is ready to serve

_Store platter of cupcakes, lightly covered with wax paper, in refrigerator for up to 2 days. If you are preparing them in advance, add fruit 1 hour before serving. Unfrosted cupcakes may by baked ahead and frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw cupcakes overnight in refrigerator, then frost and decorate._