Christmas Cupcakes

So it's december and you know what that means... It's almost Christmas!

Every year for Christmas I make a selection of treats for guests and this year I didn’t fail to do so. This year I made the classic mince pies as well as a few other Christmas themed cupcakes.

To make the cupcakes I used:

• 100g caster sugar
• 100g self raising flour
• 100g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the buttercream frosting I used:

• 150g icing sugar
• 75g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1-2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (if making the reindeer cupcakes)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with paper cases (I used Halloween ones)
2. Put the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl.
3. Beat the mixture by hand or using an electric whisk until you get a creamy consistency. Spoon the mixture into the cases.
4. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Leave to cool while you prepare the butter icing
6. To make the buttercream, beat the butter in a medium sized mixing bowl until soft.
7. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
8. Add the remaining icing sugar and one tablespoon of milk and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Beat in the milk and the vanilla extract.
9. Then add a few drops of Dr Oetker black gel food colouring until you get a grey coloured buttercream.
   Once the cakes have cooled, use a piping bag to pipe on the buttercream.

To make the melting snowman cupcakes you will need:

• white marshmallows
• writing icing (orange and a colour for the eyes)

To make the reindeer cupcakes you will need:

• salted pretzels (halved to make antler shapes)
• white chocolate buttons
• milk chocolate buttons
• red smarties or red writing icing
• a coloured writing of choice for the eyes

To decorate the christmas themed cupcakes I used a quadruple sprinkle set.

I hope you all have a lovely christmas and I hope these cupcake ideas are useful if you have to make a last minute treat as they are so easy to make!

Annie xx