Christmas tree cupcakes

Name: Christmas tree cupcakes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 150 g (¾ cup) butter, or margarine; 150 g (¾ cup) caster sugar; 150 g (1 ¾ cups) self raising flour*; ½ tsp baking powder; ½ tsp vanilla extract; 3 eggs; 150 g (⅔ cup) butter, softened; 300 g (2 cups) icing / confectioners sugar; 25 ml milk; A few drops of vanilla extract; Green food colouring; Sprinkles and/or a star to decorate

Christmas tree cupcakes are a fun bake kids will love making and eating during the festive season. Simply add a green buttercream icing to our basic cupcake, and add some sprinkles and the all important star.

Christmas tree cupcakes are not a traditional Christmas bake, but they’re simple and fun and always a hit with kids. We’ve used our popular easy cupcake recipe and added a simple green buttercream shaped and decorated like a Christmas tree. It really couldn’t be easier.

How kids can make Christmas tree cupcakes?

Cupcakes are one of the easiest bakes for children and these festive cupcakes are no exception. Kids can help with all the usual baking tasks from measuring all the ingredients out and mixing them together. And everything gets mixed together in one bowl which makes it even simpler when you’re baking with children.
There are also a few chances for kids to practice cracking eggs in which is an important skill for any young baker.

When you make cupcakes, your kids also have the chance to help decorate them. If you have a piping bag they might enjoy trying to pipe on the buttercream. Make sure you whip the buttercream long enough to make it nice and soft and easy enough for children to pipe.

If the icing ends up looking a bit messy (and when children are in charge it can), don’t worry too much – cover it in sprinkles and no one will ever notice! And if your kids find piping icing into Christmas trees a bit too tricky get them to help decorate them with sprinkles and the star.

How long do Christmas tree cupcakes keep?

These cupcakes will keep for 3-5 days in an airtight container. If you want to make them ahead or keep them for longer, wrap them (un-iced) in cling film and put them in a freezer bag then freeze them. They’ll keep in the freezer for a few months.

When you want to serve them, defrost them fully at room temperature, then ice and decorate them.

What can I use instead of self raising flour?

If you don’t have self raising flour, swap it for an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and put in an extra teaspoon of baking powder.

Other fun festive bakes for kids

If you and your kids want to make something else fun and festive, check out some of our favourite Christmas recipes below:

Christmas tree brownies
Easy mince pie recipe for kids
Lebkuchen
Easy snickerdoodle recipe
Chocolate crinkle cookies
Easy Christmas sugar cookies
Gingerbread house
Christmas buns
Reindeer brownies
Gingerbread reindeer cookies

Useful equipment

You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these Christmas tree cupcakes

Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Food colour
Muffin tin
Cupcake cases
Piping bag
Wire rack

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Ingredients

For the cupcakes
150g (¾ cup) butter, or margarine
150g (¾ cup) caster sugar
150g (1 ¾ cups) self raising flour*
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

For the buttercream
150g (2/3 cup) butter, softened
300g (2 cups) icing / confectioners sugar
25ml milk
A few drops of vanilla extract
Green food colouring
Sprinkles and/or a star to decorate

How to make Christmas tree cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 200C / 180C Fan / 390F and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper or silicon cupcake cases.

Add all the cupcake ingredients to a bowl

Get your kids to measure all the ingredients out and add them to a free-standing mixer or a large mixing bowl. You can add everything in any order but so that we don’t miss anything out, we tend to do it in the order the ingredients are listed, or follow along below.

Measure the flour, sugar and butter/margarine and add them to your mixing bowl. If your butter isn’t soft (we never remember to take it out of the fridge beforehand), pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. You want to heat it for long enough for it to soften a bit but not long enough to melt it. We used baking margarine this time to make these as it’s much cheaper than butter and I find it works just as well in cupcakes.

Get your kids to add the baking powder. Make sure they use their finger to level the baking powder in the spoon before they put it in the bowl so that you add just the right amount.

Add the vanilla extract. You might need to hold the teaspoon while your kids pour in the vanilla or vice versa if they are still quite young. Older children should be able to manage this on their own.

Finally, get your kids to crack the eggs into a small bowl before putting them into the mixing bowl. We like to crack them into a small bowl first just in case any shell goes in but if/when you get some rogue shell in, simply fish it out with a piece of larger shell. You’ll find it sticks more easily to shell than it does your finger.

Mix everything together

Mix everything together with the k-paddle attachment of your free-standing mixer, a hand held mixer or even some wooden spoons. Do it until you have a nice smooth batter, but not for too long otherwise they wont rise as well in the oven. You might need to get your kids to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula so that everything, including flour at the bottom of your bowl, gets incorporated.

Bake the cupcakes

Get your kids to divide the cupcake batter among the cupcake cases. An ice cream scoop or soup spoon often dish out the perfect amount, with less mess, so can be a great tool for kids to use.

Bake the cupcakes for approximately 15-20 minutes. They’re ready when they’ve risen and a skewer, sharp knife or cocktail stick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove them from the oven and leave them to cool in the tin for a few minutes before popping them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Decorate the Christmas tree cupcakes

Make the buttercream frosting

Start by making the buttercream frosting. Measure the butter and icing sugar out and put them into a large mixing bowl or free-standing mixer. Again, if your butter isn’t soft chop it up then pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften, but not melt it.

Add the milk then cover the mixer with a tea towel (optional, but it will save a bit of mess!). Start on a slow speed and mix the butter icing together with the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer or hand held mixer.

Once the icing sugar has mixed into the butter and there’s no danger of it flying everywhere, add the green food colouring. Start with a drop or two – you can always add more later if you need to to get the right shade of green.

Turn the speed up of your mixer up and whip it for at least 5 minutes. The longer you mix it, the softer and more delicious the icing will be.

Once it’s ready, fill a piping bag fitted with a large star shaped nozzle with the buttercream icing and use a food bag clip to seal the top end. We find this makes it easier for kids to pipe without worrying about the icing coming out the top.

Pipe on the frosting

Let your kids pipe swirls of icing on top of the cupcakes. Start covering the base of the cupcake, then swirl up until you have a nice Christmas tree shape.

The easiest way of doing this is can be to get your kids to hold the piping bag at the top with their right hand to squeeze the icing out and use their other hand to guide the bag round. You might need to help them squeeze or guide the bag.

Get your kids to add some sprinkles to your Christmas tree and a star on top if you have some. If you have younger children who struggle with piping this can be a good job for them to take charge of. And don’t forget with these cupcakes, more is more!

Serve and enjoy.