Preheat the oven to 350 F. degrees and place the cupcake liners in two cupcake pans.
Combine the cake mix, water, oil, egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer until just moistened.
Beat the cake batter for one minute.
Color the cake batter
Divide the cake batter into three bowls. Leave one uncolored bowl of white cake batter and set aside.
Add a couple of drops of red food coloring to one bowl. Add a couple drops of blue food coloring the other bowl. Mix well with a spoon to evenly color the cake batter.
Transfer the red, white and blue cake batter to piping bags, if using.
Starting with the blue colored cake batter squeeze (or spoon) a small amount into each cupcake liner equally dividing the batter between the cupcake liners.
Repeat with the white and red cake batter.
Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven following the instructions on the box.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool for five minutes in the pan then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting the cupcakes
Frost the cooled cupcakes with store bought vanilla frosting or use red, white and blue homemade buttercream frosting.
Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes.
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Recipe Expert Tips
beating the cake batter: over beating the cupcake batter with cause air bubbles to form as the cupcakes bake. Only beat the cake batter for one minute with the handheld mixer. Mixing the food coloring in with a spoon will completely mix the batter.
coloring the cake batter: as you mix in the food coloring you will mix the batter enough to make up for the one minute you did not beat the cake batter with the beater.
using piping bags: Using piping bags makes it much easier and less messier to fill the cupcake liners. If you don't have piping bags you can use a spoon or pour from the bowl carefully.
preheating the oven: follow the directions on the box based on the type of cupcake pan you are using.
when are cupcakes done: The cupcakes are done when the center springs back. Do not over bake or the cupcakes with turn a golden brown.
frosting: you will need one batch of homemade vanilla buttercream frosting or 2 cans of store bought frosting.