Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two muffin tins with cupcake liners — you'll need about 24 total. Cream together 1 cup softened butter and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar until it's light and fluffy, which takes about 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer. Add your 4 large eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition so everything combines smoothly.

Mix together 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt in a separate bowl. Alternate adding your dry mixture and 1/2 cup whole milk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients — this prevents overmixing and keeps cupcakes tender.

Stir in 2 tsp vanilla extract until just combined. Don't overmix or your cupcakes turn out dense and kinda rubbery, which nobody wants. Fill each cupcake liner about two-thirds full with batter.

Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The tops should look golden and spring back slightly when you touch them gently. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack completely.

While cupcakes cool, divide your 2 cups buttercream frosting into three bowls. Leave one plain white, add 1/2 tsp red food coloring to the second, and 1/2 tsp blue food coloring to the third. Stir each color until you get even patriotic hues — this is where your cupcake pull apart cake really comes to life.

Here's my trick for assembling your patriotic pull apart cupcake cake: place one cupcake in the center of a cake plate or platter. Frost the top, then arrange a circle of cupcakes around it in alternating red, white, and blue colors — kinda like you're creating layers.

Keep building upward, stacking each layer with frosting between rows and alternating your patriotic colors as you go. The dome shape creates that gorgeous pull-apart effect, and your guests can literally grab individual cupcakes from the structure. Step back and admire your work — this looks way fancier than it actually is.