Erin FoxThese festive wreath cupcakes make a beautiful Christmas gift wrapped up in a box, or serve as a wonderful treat for a Christmassy afternoon tea. You can even substitute them for plum pudding or mince pies, as dessert on Christmas Day to please those in the family who despise currants!
You can make the cupcakes a day ahead of serving. Store them in an air tight container and leave at room temperature. Makes 18 – 22
Cupcakes
- 150g self-raising flour;
- 75g cocoa powder;
- 1tsp baking powder;
- 225g butter at room temperature;
- 225g golden caster sugar;
- 4 eggs lightly beaten;
- zest of four clementines.
Syrup
- 100g caster sugar;
- 100ml water;
- juice of 2 clementines.
Buttercream
- 200g unsalted butter at room temperature;
- 200g icing sugar;
- green food colouring;
- juice of 2 clementines.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line two 12 hole cupcake pans with wrappers.
Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar with the orange zest for five minutes until pale and fluffy.
Add 1 tablespoon of the flour mix to the butter and sugar along with a little of the eggs and beat until combined. Gradually add the rest of the eggs, beating well after each addition until fully incorporated.
Fold in the rest of the flour and cocoa.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake wrappers, filling each one about two thirds full.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes until a knife or wooden skewer emerges clean.
While the cupcakes are baking, make the syrup. Dissolve the sugar in a pan with the water over a high heat.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before adding the orange juice.
When the cupcakes are out of the oven, prick the surfaces all over with a wooden skewer and then brush the orange syrup over the tops.
Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely while you make the buttercream.
Beat the butter and icing sugar in a bowl for five minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the orange juice and beat again. Spoon some of the buttercream in to a separate bowl. Mix green food colouring into the remaining buttercream until the mixuture is a bright green.
Spread some of the uncoloured icing onto the top of a cupcake and smooth all over. Colour the rest of the icing red. Fix a star nozzle to the end of a piping bag and fill with the green buttercream.
Pipe little rosettes around the edge of each cupcake. Chill in the fridge for half an hour to let the buttercream firm and when finished, sprinkle the wreaths with edible coloured pearls and snowflakes. And then pipe a ribbon on top of the wreath with the red buttercream.