Christmas cupcakes to decorate with kids
Prep: 40 min · Cook: 20 min · Makes: 12 cupcakes · For:
Cupcakes are made for decorating, and at Christmas they are a perfect excuse to cover the kitchen table with sprinkles. This simple vanilla sponge is light and reliable, and the buttercream is easy to pipe or simply spread with a knife.
Make a batch of green Christmas trees and a few snowy snowmen and let everyone design their own.
Tips
- Room-temperature ingredients mix together smoothly and give a lighter sponge.
- Gel colouring gives a bright green without making the buttercream runny.
- No piping bag? Spread the buttercream with a butter knife and make little peaks with a fork.
Little helpers
Give each child a cupcake and a small bowl of decorations and let them go. Under-fives love dipping the snowmen in coconut. Small sugar decorations can be a choking risk for toddlers, so keep them for the older ones.
Ingredients
- 125 g soft butter
- 125 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 150 g plain flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 4 tbsp milk
- 125 g soft butter, 250 g icing sugar and 1-2 tbsp milk, for the buttercream
- green food colouring (gel works best)
- 3 tbsp desiccated coconut
- sugar pearls, small sugar stars and a few raisins or chocolate chips, to decorate
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4) and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
- Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes with an electric whisk.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour with the second egg.
- Fold in the rest of the flour, the baking powder and salt, then the milk, until smooth.
- Divide between the cases (about two-thirds full) and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden and springy. Cool completely on a rack.
- Buttercream: beat the butter until very soft, then gradually beat in the icing sugar and enough milk to make it smooth and spreadable.
- Christmas trees: colour two-thirds of the buttercream green and pipe it in a tall swirl with a star nozzle. Add sugar pearls as baubles and a sugar star on top.
- Snowmen: spread white buttercream on the remaining cupcakes, dip them in coconut and give each one raisin or chocolate chip eyes and buttons.
Questions
Can I bake the cupcakes ahead?
Yes. Bake them the day before and keep them in an airtight box. Decorate them on the day.
Can I freeze them?
Freeze the undecorated cupcakes for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before decorating.
My buttercream is too soft. What now?
Chill it for 15 minutes or beat in a little more icing sugar. Warm hands also soften it, so let it cool down between decorating sessions.
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