Most of this blog post was originally published last year. But since it includes such great 4th of July dessert ideas, I thought I’d re-post it so you can get your patriotic treats ready for Independence Day.
But before I do, I want to give a big shout-out to Tootsie for making patriotic candy! You’ll recall my recent rant about a lack of seasonal candy from the Easter to Halloween summer season. Well maybe Tootsie read my post because check this out!
Patriotic Layered Cupcakes
I decided to make red-white-blue layered cupcakes after being inspired by this awesome cake on a blog I love. Here are the ingredients: two boxes of white cake mix, red and blue food coloring, cupcake liners, and patriotic sprinkles.
Once you make the cake mix, divide it evenly among three bowls and add the food coloring. 
Then you put a little more than one tablespoon of white cake batter on the bottom, then blue, then red (or red then blue). They should stay in layers.
Then I made a simple buttercream frosting (butter, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar). Of course you can buy frosting, but I always make my own from scratch. It’s easy, really! Spread that sweet goodness on the cupcake and then I toppd with some festive Fourth of July décor I bought at Do It With Icing (a local cake and candy shop I frequent) and … 
Patriotic Jello Stars
The recipe I used is a hybrid of two posts: layered finger jello on Tasty Kitchen and this blog post . I used one large box of berry blue jello, combined it with one package of gelatin and one cup of hot water. I poured it into the glass dish and let it sit for about an hour. The second layer is one can of sweetened condensed milk, two packets of Gelatin and two cups of hot water. The third red layer is raspberry flavor with gelatin and hot water. You can also add vodka for a tasty adult treat.
Then you get a pretty layered dish. 
Add the cute star-shaped cookie cutter and you get these.
I haven’t yet decided what I’m making this year. Any suggestions?