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cupcakes decorated with christmas decorations - muted, subtle and elegant
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Christmas Cupcake Recipe

5 from 2 votes
prep 1 hour 15 minutes
cook 18 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
total 2 hours 33 minutes
Serves 26 cupcakes
Christmas Cupcakes are the perfect dessert to impress for the Holidays! I made them with chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and vanilla American buttercream but they can be made with a variety of flavors for a more festive treat. 
Author: Bernice Baran
Servings 26 cupcakes

Equipment

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcakes

  • 180 grams cake flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 200 grams granulated sugar
  • 60 mL canola oil
  • 56 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 large egg, 60g, room temperature (or 2 large egg whites if you want whiter cupcakes)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 113 grams sour cream
  • 80 mL whole milk, room temperature

Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 150 grams all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 
  • 40 grams unsweetened cocoa powder , (I used dutch process), spooned and leveled
  • 200 grams granulated sugar 
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 120 mL vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 113 grams sour cream 
  • 120 mL milk, room temperature

Vanilla Frosting

  • 340 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 720 grams powdered sugar, spooned and leveled
  • 60 mL heavy whipping cream
  • 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Decorating

Method

Vanilla Cupcakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F/177C convection and line 13 muffin tins with cupcake liners (preferably a light colored pan).
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until they're evenly distributed (whisk well).
    180 grams cake flour spooned and leveled, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, 200 grams granulated sugar
  3. Add the oil and butter to the dry ingredients and beat together until they're combined.
    60 mL canola oil, 56 grams unsalted butter room temperature
  4. Add the egg and vanilla extract and paste and mix until they're fully combined.
    1 large egg 60g, room temperature (or 2 large egg whites if you want whiter cupcakes), 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  5. Add the sour cream and turn the mixer to low speed, while streaming the milk in. Scrape the edge of the bowl and mix just until the cupcake batter is smooth.
    113 grams sour cream, 80 mL whole milk room temperature
  6. Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3-3/4 full, about 50-55 grams of batter per cupcake.* You will have enough batter for about half a cupcake leftover. DO NOT BE TEMPTED to distribute that among the cupcakes, they will sink if they’re overfilled.
  7. Bake for 16-18 minutes. They are done when you press on the center of the cupcake and it springs back or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  8. Remove them from the oven and let them cool in the cupcake pan for 10 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Cupcakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F/177C convection and line 13 muffin tins with cupcake liners (or 12, the batter for the 13th can wait).
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
    150 grams all-purpose flour spooned and leveled , 40 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dutch process), spooned and leveled, 200 grams granulated sugar , 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  3. Add the oil to the dry ingredients and whisk together until it's combined.
    120 mL vegetable oil
  4. Add the eggs and mix until it's fully combined.
    2 large eggs room temperature
  5. Add the sour cream and milk and mix just until the cupcake batter is smooth.
    113 grams sour cream , 120 mL milk room temperature
  6. Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 16-18 minutes. When you press on the center of the cupcake it should spring back.
  7. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack.
  8. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

  1. Place the butter in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and use the whisk attachment to beat at full speed for 2-3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the edge of the bowl every so often.
    340 grams unsalted butter room temperature
  2. Add the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla and turn the mixer on to low speed, just until the powdered sugar is incorporated. Then turn the speed up to high for 2-3 minutes.
    720 grams powdered sugar spooned and leveled
  3. With the mixer on medium speed, stream in half of the heavy whipping cream slowly and beat for another 2 minutes on high speed. If the buttercream is too firm, stream in the rest of the heavy cream but it at any point it gets too soft to frost, refrigerate it for 10-15 minutes before frosting.
    60 mL heavy whipping cream, 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract, 1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Decorating

  1. Use a piping bag fit with a large round tip to pipe an even layer of frosting on top of each cupcake. It doesn't have to be perfect but leave a little bit of room on the edge so it has room to squish down.
  2. Place the cupcakes upside down onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for 15 minutes.
  3. Once the frosting feels firm, remove them from the freezer and peel them off the parchment paper.
  4. Remove about 3 Tbsp of the frosting into a small bowl and use 2-3 small drops of black food color (can also add a tsp of cocoa powder to it to make it darker) to make it black.
    2-3 drops black GEL food coloring I use americolor
  5. Place the black frosting in a piping bag fit with a tiny round piping tip and use that for the Joy and String Lights cupcakes. I wrote joy in my normal handwriting so it may look different for everyone. I recommend practicing on a plate first (make sure to watch the video in the blog post).
  6. For the string lights, pipe a squiggle of black frosting across the cupcake and throw in a loop if you want. Place the M&Ms randomly in different directions so they look natural and do this write away before the frosting dries.
  7. Remove about 1/2 of the left over frosting and use the green and black food coloring to make a muted forest green color. Place that frosting in a piping bag fit with any medium sized open star tip for the Christmas Trees and Wreaths.
    3-4 drops green GEL food coloring I use americolor, 2-3 drops black GEL food coloring I use americolor
  8. For the Christmas Trees, pipe the bottom of the tree first. Start with your piping tip at the bottom of the cupcake and hold it at a downward angle (so the tip is towards the bottom and the bag is coming up across the cupcake).
  9. Apply pressure and as you release pressure, drag your piping tip slightly upwards to create an elongated poof. Do three lines in a row across the bottom of the cupcake. Then two poofs between but slightly higher than the three and then one more on top (watch the video and see photos in blog post). Place a yellow M&M at the top of the tree.
    handful mini M&Ms
  10. For wreaths, just piping a circle of poofs around the edge of the cupcake. Apply pressure once your piping tip is on the cupcake and lift as you're releasing the pressure. Place two or three red mini M&Ms at the top of my wreaths.
    handful mini M&Ms
  11. For the snowman, use the piping bag fit with a large round tip to pipe another layer of white frosting on top of the cupcake. Then top with a large marshmallow. Use the black frosting to pipe two eyes and a nose and place a orange M&M on the nose.
    handful mini M&Ms
  12. Dust with powdered sugar or glitter or shimmer sprinkles to make it look a little frosted.
    dusting of powdered sugar or sprinkles or glitter

Notes

  • *I weigh 55g of batter for each cupcake. If it's less, they'll be short and if it's too much, they may sink.
  • I recommend a light colored metal cupcake pan if you want the the vanilla cupcakes more uniform in color.
  • Store in an airtight container, at room temperature for 2-3 days or refrigerated for 7-10 days or frozen for a few weeks. 
Adjusting the Frosting Quantity
 
I couldn't decide between chocolate and vanilla cupcakes so I made a full batch of both. The recipe for the frosting is enough to just barely cover all of them, you shouldn't have any left over frosting. If you want a little more frosting on each cupcake, I would increase it by 25% (2 cups (454g) of butter, 8 cups (960g) of powdered sugar, etc.)
 
If you do just vanilla or just chocolate cupcakes OR if you make a half batch of each of them, I would recommend doing 1 cup (227g) of butter and 4 cups (480g) of powdered sugar for the frosting. I hope that makes sense, if you need help adjusting just comment below or shoot me a message! :)

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 382kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 3gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 116mgPotassium: 74mgFiber: 1gSugar: 35gVitamin A: 496IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mg
Course: Cupcakes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate cupcake, christmas cupcake, christmas decoration, cupcake decorating, vanilla buttercream, vanilla cupcake, white cupcake