not red, white, and blue...

...so much as cherry tomato, French vanilla, and concord grape.*

*And yes, it's an absolute coincidence that all those hues happen to have culinary names.

I've been considering paint colors of late and boy, is that a daunting endeavor. I usually have a hard time deciding between two choices, so thousands of options is just a wee bit overwhelming. I've discovered that Sherwin-Williams has this awesome program called Chip It! that'll analyze any photo and tell you the corresponding paint colors used in it. Super cool and a fantastic waste of time.

I made these cupcakes to celebrate Independence Day, and they turned out to be less patriotic than I anticipated. I added strawberries and blueberries to the batter, but if I hadn't done the red and blue streaks in the frosting, one would never guess the theme was red, white, and blue. Regardless, it's a tasty and versatile recipe, and one you should definitely try.

Partially Patriotic Cupcakes
Makes about 17

Strawberry cupcakes:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup finely chopped strawberries
• 3/4 cup blueberries, tossed in flour

Vanilla buttercream:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-3 tablespoons milk, as needed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
Whisk flours, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Combine milk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry, scraping sides of bowl as you go. Fold in chopped strawberries and blueberries.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full and bake until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.
To make the frosting, with an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Reduce speed to medium and add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. Add vanilla and a tablespoon of milk, and beat until frosting is smooth. Add more milk as needed.
When the cupcakes are completely cool, apply the frosting as desired and enjoy!