Around Christmas time, there's nothing better than filling your home with the sweet smells of freshly baked cupcakes. Whether you've tried (and failed) to successfully make your gingerbread house stick together or want some different cakes to accompany your snowman cupcakes, these show-stopping Christmas tree cupcakes from Annabel Karmel not only look fantastic, but they're delicious too.
Makes: 8 cupcakes | Time: 30 mins + time for decorating
Ingredients
Chocolate cupcakes
125g butter or margarine
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
85g self-raising flour
30g cocoa powder
40g plain chocolate chips
Ice cream cones
Icing
500g vanilla buttercream (shop bought)
Green food colouring
Edible silver balls
Method
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To make the chocolate cupcakes, pre-heat the oven to 160C Fan / 180 C / Gas 4. Sift the flour and cocoa into a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and smooth, and then add the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour mixture with the second egg. Mix in the remaining flour and cocoa, then stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into the paper cases – they should be two-thirds full.
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Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Leave in the muffin tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
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Meanwhile, colour 350g of the buttercream green by mixing some of the green food colouring into the vanilla buttercream. Pipe some of the remaining white buttercream around the edges of the cupcakes.
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Take the ice cream cones (if they are too large, you can trim off the end using a sharp knife). Apply a thin layer of green frosting all over the exterior of the ice cream cones using a palette knife. Stand these upside down on top of the cupcakes. Transfer the remaining green frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small star-shaped nozzle. Pipe green spiky leaves onto the trees. Dust the trees with icing sugar so that it looks like snow on some of the leaves.
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Finish off by garnishing with some edible silver balls.
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