Follow Your Inner Star - Cupcakes for an American Girl Party

On the day my daughter turned 7, she also had her American Girl club.  The mom who leads the club most graciously agreed to let me send cupcakes.  So I started thinking about how I could go along with the American Girl theme of "Follow Your Inner Star."

I had seen this idea long ago on Bake It In A Cake (great tutorial there, btw) and had wanted to try it since I first saw it.  I figured that a star baked in a cupcake would be a great idea...you know...follow your *inner* star.  Our *inner* star would be *inside* the cupcake. 

I started by making a white cake batter.  Once it was made, I pulled out a cup and a half of the batter and colored it pink.  I poured it into a prepared 8 x 8 dish.



 I baked it at 350 for about 20 minutes.  I let it cool completely and then used a star cookie cutter (about an inch tall) to cut out the star shapes.

Using an edible food marker, I made two marks on the wrappers.  This way I would know where to cut the cupcake (across from dash to dash) so that the star would be visible.  This is an important step or else you may not get the star shape when you cut.

Per the instructions on Bake It In a Cake, I poured two tablespoons of the remaining white batter in before I placed the star in each cup.  I placed the stars in standing sideways to the marks on the wrapper and covered with about two more tablespoons of white batter.  I baked them at 350 until cooked through. 

After they were done, I tested a few to see how the stars came out.  Some came out really well.

Others, not so much (like the one pictured at the top of this post that I had frosted).   That happens, I suppose.

I finished them off with, of course, a red fondant star.  I used the same cutter that I had used to make the inside stars.   And a cute box adds to the look for sure!