Christmas Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour (200g)
• 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda (1g, heaping)
• 1 tsp baking powder (4g, heaping)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt (1g)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (190g, room temperature)
• 3 egg whites
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract (15mL)
• 1/2 cup sour cream (120g)
• 1/2 cup whole milk (118mL)
• 2 lbs confectioners sugar (900g)
• 1 lb unsalted butter (450g)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (5mL)
• 1 tbsp heavy cream (15mL)
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp whole milk (5mL)
• red, green, and orange food coloring
• gold or silver sugar pearls
• rainbow sugar pearls
• large marshmallows
• 3 tbsp candy melts (black)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place cupcake papers in a cupcake pan.
2. In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together until incorporated. Including the sugar.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until combined. (The batter may be clumpy! Do not worry!)
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
5. Distribute the batter evenly into cupcake papers.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch.
7. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter. Add in the confectioners sugar in two batches.
8. Now add salt, milk, cream and vanilla. Mix until fluffy.
9. Separate into multiple bowls and add food coloring to create green, red, and a very small amount of orange. Transfer each color to a piping bag.
10. For the wreaths; pipe a white base onto your cupcake. I used an 898 tip. Use a 349 or a small leaf tip to pipe the green leaves. To make the ribbon, use a 101 or a small petal tip. You can decorate your wreath using gold or silver sugar pearls.
11. For the poinsettia; Using a 70 (large leaf tip), pipe the green leaves of the flower right on to the cupcake. To pipe the red leaves, use a352 tip. Finish off by adding the tiny yellow flowers in the middle with a 3 tip (or just snip the tip off a piping bag.
12. For the Christmas tree; Pipe a white base onto your cupcake. Spread a small amount of brown buttercream at the edge of your cupcake to create your tree stump. With a number 30 or medium star tip, start creating your dollops to make your tree. Use rainbow or any color sugar pearls to decorate your Christmas tree.
13. For the snowman; Add a little bit of cake from the cupcakes, some buttercream, orange food coloring, and mix together. Use this to mold the noses. Start off by piping a white base. Cut off a corner of a large marshmallow and place it at the edge of your cupcake. Use black buttercream to pipe the arms, mouth, and eyes. You can add small sugar pearls for the buttons.
14. For the Santa hat; pipe the hat using the red buttercream and an 808 tip. For the fur around the hat, add dollops of white buttercream with a medium star or 30 tip.