Christmas Tree Mini Cupcakes Recipes

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.

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".

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 4-cup and a 2-cup oven-proof measuring cup. Place paper baking cup in each of 7 regular-size muffin cups.
• Make cake mix as directed on box using water, oil and eggs. Add almond extract and enough green food color to make light green batter; blend well. Fill 4-cup measuring cup with 2 cups batter. Fill 2-cup measuring cup with 1 cup batter. Divide remaining batter into muffin cups.
• Bake cupcakes 20 to 25 minutes, 2-cup measuring cup 30 to 35 minutes and 4-cup measuring cup 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove cupcakes from pan and cakes from measuring cups to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Mix in 3/4 cup milk, vanilla and enough green food color to make desired green colored frosting. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time.
• Assemble and Decorate: Using serrated knife cut rounded tops off cakes baked in measuring cups to make a level surface. Place large cake, wider end down, on cake plate. Spread 1/4 cup frosting on top. Put small cake on top of large cake, wider end down. Spread 2 tablespoons frosting on top. Remove paper liner from 1 cupcake. Trim off rounded top of cupcake to flatten. Place cut side down on top of small cake. Spread 1 tablespoon frosting on top. Insert skewer through center of all cakes to secure tree. Break off pieces of one waffle cone to make top of cone even. Place cone, top side down, to form top of tree.
• Place frosting in resealable food storage bag or decorating bag. Cut 1/2 inch off corner of bag for tip of decorating bag. Starting at the base of the tree, pipe about a 1 inch dot of frosting. Use back of teaspoon, spread frosting vertically upward. Continue piping dots and spreading frosting around base of tree. Pipe another row of dots overlapping dots from previous row; spread vertically upward. Continue making and spreading dots to tip of cone. Place dot of frosting in tip of cone. Decorate tree with candy coated chocolate balls.
• To assemble and frost 6 mini trees, remove paper liners from remaining 6 cupcakes. If necessary, trim off rounded tops to flatten. Place cut side down on doilies or small individual plates. Break off pieces of 6 waffle cones to make tops of cones even. Place top side down to cover cupcakes, using frosting to secure cones on cupcakes. Using frosting in bag, pipe 1-inch dots around base of tree and use to teaspoon to spread frosting vertically. Continue making rows of dots and spreading them vertically upward to top of cone. Place dot of frosting on tip of cone. Repeat for remaining trees. Decorate trees with candy-coated chocolate balls.

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.