Best 4 Christmas Tree Mini Cupcakes Recipes

CUPCAKE CHRISTMAS TREE

Steps:

• Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line the cups of 2 to 4 mini muffin tins with paper liners (you can bake the cupcakes in batches if necessary). Mix the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add the eggs and milk and mix until well combined. Drizzle in the oil and the vanilla and almond extracts and mix. With the mixer running at low speed, add the boiling water and mix just until smooth. Fill the lined muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake until risen and firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pans. Frosting: In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk and mix until smooth. Add more milk a little at a time until the frosting is thick and spreadable. Using a flexible spatula, frost the tops of the cooled cupcakes. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before assembling the tree.
• To assemble the tree, spread a thick layer of sprinkles out on a plate. Dip the tops of the cupcakes in the sprinkles and set aside. Tie curling ribbon around the candy canes and curl with a scissor blade. One inch up from the bottom of the styrofoam cone, stick toothpicks into the cone 1 1/2 inches apart, making a circle around the cone and leaving them sticking out at least 1 inch. Place the cone on a serving platter. Make the bottom ring of cupcakes by spearing the bottom of a cupcake onto one of the toothpicks in the cone, with the frosting facing out and with the side of the cupcake resting on the plate. One inch above the tops of the first row of cupcakes, place another row of toothpicks 1 1/2 inches apart, all around the cone, positioning them so that the second row will rest between the tops of the first row. You will fit fewer cupcakes on the second row; feel free to cut a cupcake in half if necessary to fit into the space available. Spear the cupcakes onto the toothpicks as before. Continue up the cone to form a tree of cupcakes, ending with a single cupcake on top. Serve within one hour, or refrigerate up to 24 hours. Stick the candy canes in the styrofoam and stick gilded cranberries on with a little extra icing. Pour sugar on the serving platter around the tree. To gild the cranberries, roll them on the sheets of gold leaf to roughly coat.

PULL-APART CUPCAKE CHRISTMAS TREE

Steps:

• Arrange 21 cupcakes in a tight triangle on a platter or cake board, using 6 cupcakes at the bottom. Add 2 cupcakes for the trunk. Break the graham cracker in half, spread chocolate frosting on the back and use to fill in the gaps in the trunk as shown.
• Spread the remaining chocolate frosting on the bottom 2 cupcakes, using an offset spatula to add texture. Tint the vanilla frosting green; transfer to a piping bag with an open-star tip. Starting from the bottom of the triangle and working your way up, pipe the green frosting all over the cupcakes in small downward strokes to cover completely.
• Add candies for ornaments. Flatten the gumdrop and trim into a star shape with a small cookie cutter. Place on top of the tree.

CHRISTMAS TREE MINI CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease mini muffin cups or line with paper liners.
• Mix pastry flour, white sugar, and cocoa powder together in a bowl; add water, oil, and vanilla extract and blend until batter is smooth. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes.
• Mix frosting and green food coloring together in a bowl until evenly combined. Transfer frosting to a pipe bag or plastic bag with a snipped corner; refrigerate for 5 minutes.
• Squeeze a small amount of frosting onto the hulled side of each strawberry and place each onto a cupcake so the strawberry is in the shape of a tree. Pipe frosting onto each strawberry to look like leaves. Add candies to the "tree" to look like ornaments and place a star-shaped candy on top of each "tree".

MINI-CUPCAKE TREE

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 4 (12-cup) mini-muffin pans with paper liners.
• Whisk the flour with the granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Lightly whisk in the melted butter, egg, milk, vanilla, and zest, just until smooth. Divide the batter among the 48 liners, filling about 1/2 way. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn them out of the pan, flip upright, and cool completely on the rack.
• For the frosting: With a handheld or standing mixer, beat the cream cheese with the butter at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice. Chill for 10 to 20 minutes while assembling the tree.
• To make the tree: Begin with 1 Styrofoam cone, 18-inches tall by 3 3/4-inches in diameter at the base. Trim about 2-inches from the top of the cone and 4-inches from the bottom and discard. Wrap the cone in foil, leaving about 2-inches of extra foil on the top to fold over, making a more rounded top. Begin inserting toothpicks at the top and skewer a cupcake onto each one. Position as close to each other as possible while working your way around and down.
• Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Begin on the outside edge and make a spiral motion towards the center of each cupcake.
• When ready to serve, dust the tree with confectioners' sugar. Set on a large platter and place toasted coconut around the base for dipping.