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    Home » Recipes » Designs & Tutorials

    Christmas Tree Cupcakes - Pretty Treats Idea

    Published: Oct 8, 2020 · Modified: Dec 11, 2022 by Priya Maha

    Jump to Recipe
    4 cupcakes with 2d Christmas tree deco.

    These Christmas tree cupcakes not only make pretty and fun treats for Christmas parties, they are also great for gifting too!

    4 cupcakes with 2d mini Christmas tree decoration.
    Christmas Tree Cupcakes - An Easy Christmas Cupcake Idea

    I love how these Christmas tree toppers turned out. In fact, they don't require any special skills to make and yet, make really pretty cupcakes for Christmas. 

    The cupcakes I baked for this tutorial are plain vanilla cupcakes, but if you like, you can use any other favorite cupcakes recipe. And I chose to bake mine in muffin cups because I wanted my cupcakes to have totally flat tops. It's hard to level cupcakes baked in cupcake liners but with muffin cups, it's so much easier to slice off the domed tops with a knife (without the cupcakes getting squashed from the firm grip when leveling them), hence the choice of muffin casings for my cupcakes.

    The cupcakes are given a thin coat of buttercream before the fondant toppers are placed on. Other than that amount of buttercream, the Christmas tree cupcake toppers are made entirely with fondant and accented with lovely sprinkles in matching Christmas colors. 

    All in all, I truly enjoyed decorating these festive desserts with little Christmas trees and the tutorial below will teach you how to make these on your own, with detailed instructions.


    Table of contents

    • How to Make and Decorate
      • Ingredients:
      • Decorating tools
      • Baking the cupcakes
      • Covering the cupcakes with buttercream
      • The Christmas tree template
      • Making the white background
      • Tracing the tree
      • The tree trunk
      • Filling up the trees
      • Decorating the trees
      • Attaching the tree topper to the Christmas cupcakes
    • Notes
      • Can you use buttercream for the cupcakes?
      • Can you use a chocolate cupcakes base to make these cupcakes?
    • Like this Christmas cupcakes decorating idea and tutorial? Here are my other posts you should check out
    • Recipe (Printable)

    How to Make and Decorate

    Ingredients:

    • Cupcakes - I used my vanilla cupcakes recipe to bake the cupcakes (see the recipe card below for the full recipe). For a single batch of the recipe, I managed to get 20 cupcakes baked in medium-sized muffin casings.
    • Buttercream - I used buttercream to coat the top of each cupcake before placing the toppers on. 
    • Fondant - The cupcakes were almost fully decorated with fondant save for the sprinkles. I used Satin Ice fondant in white , green and dark chocolate .
    • Sprinkles - The sprinkles I used for these toppers are from Fancy Sprinkles in a lovely combination of Christmas colors - red, green, silver, and gold.
    • Shortening & fondant glue - these were the glues for this project. I used shortening mostly and a slight touch of the fondant glue for the sprinkles.

    Decorating tools

    • Fondant extruder tool - This was the main decorating tool for this project. If you don't have this tool, you can always roll your fondant into strips with hand, but it will take you a longer time to complete.
    • Christmas tree template - This was a hand-drawn template (on a piece of parchment paper) and you can even use a cookie cutter (if you have one in the right size to fit the top of the cupcakes).
    • Round scalloped cutter - I used this cutter to cut out the white background fondant. If you do not have the scalloped cutter, you can always use a plain round cutter .
    • Sugar craft knife & scriber needle tool - The sugarcraft knife is a general cutting tool I used in this project. The needle tool was to trace the Christmas tree pattern on the fondant. You can always use a wooden skewer or even a toothpick in place of the needle tool.
    • Wooden skewers - these were for shaping the Christmas tree trunks.
    4 cupcakes with 2d Christmas tree decoration.
    Easy Christmas Tree Cupcakes - Perfect for the Holiday Season

    Baking the cupcakes

    • Preheat the oven and prepare the cupcake liners in a cupcake pan.
    • Beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy with an electric mixer (hand mixer or a stand mixer), for approximately 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl constantly.
    • Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
    • Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt into the creamed mixture in 4 batches, alternating each batch with milk. Start and end with the flour. Mix until the flour is well incorporated.
    • Finally, fold in the vanilla extract.
    • Pour batter into prepared cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes, until the cupcakes are well risen and have turned golden brown.
    • Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing them onto a cooling rack (wire rack) to cool further.
    • Keep the cupcakes covered as soon as they turn warm and let them continue to cool down to room temperature, covered. If you are not going to decorate them immediately, store them in an airtight container.
    A leveled cupcake in a white muffin casing
    Baked and leveled cupcake before decorating

    Covering the cupcakes with buttercream

    • If the cupcakes are domed, level them with a knife before applying buttercream.
    • To make the buttercream (vanilla frosting), beat butter and powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar) in a large mixing bowl until fluffy.
    • Add vanilla essence and continue beating until the buttercream is all light and fluffy. Add milk (or heavy cream) if it appears too stiff.
    • Use a palette knife to spread a thin layer of buttercream on top of each cupcakes.

    The Christmas tree template

    • The tree shape template can be prepared in advance.
    • And you can start making your cupcakes toppers while the cupcakes are baking.
    • For the Christmas tree cupcake template, you can draw the shape of a tree by hand or copy the image online. Make sure the template is resized to fit the top of your cupcake (I have a tutorial here on how to resize templates for cake decorating, you can read my tips there). Cut the template out.
    Cupcake covered in buttercream

    Christmas tree paper template
    Christmas tree template I used for my Christmas tree cupcakes

    Making the white background

    • Knead and roll white fondant to about ⅛ inches thick. Cut out medium-sized white round cutouts using a scalloped round cutter. Make sure the size of the circles match the diameter of your cupcake tops so that the fondant covers your cupcakes adequately. This will be the white background for your cupcakes.
    A round piece of fondant

    Tracing the tree

    • Next, use the cut-out Christmas tree template and trace the outline onto the white fondant backgrounds. Make sure the template is well fitted within the white background. In tracing the Christmas tree, suffice if you trace just the tree and not its trunk.
    • You will see in the steps that follow, why it is not necessary to trace the tree trunk. To trace the tree, you can use a needle tool, a skewer or even a toothpick. 
    Tracing the image of a Christmas tree with a needle tool, onto a round piece of fondant

    The tree trunk

    • Next, form the tree trunk. Roll some chocolate fondant into thin strips and coil them up as shown. Use 2 skewers to press the sides and turn them into rectangle coils. 
    A round spiraled piece of brown fondant
    Forming a brown fondant square with wooden picks
    • Attach shortening to the bottom of the tree outline and attach the trunk to it. 
    Brush a round fondant cut out
    A round piece of fondant decorated with a Christmas tree motif

    The tree outline

    • Next, knead some green fondant, roll it into a sausage and put it into the extruder tool that is fitted with the smallest round-holed disc. Piped out long strips of the green fondant, and guide the strips to form outlines on the traced Christmas trees.
    Making the Christmas tree outline with green fondant
    A round piece of fondant decorated with a Christmas tree motif

    Filling up the trees

    • With the outlines done, it's time to 'fill' the trees up. Again, using the fondant extruder tool, pipe out strips of fondant, but this time, in much shorter lengths (need not be the same length). Roll the ends to make them slightly pointy and coil them up in various sizes. 
    Long strip of green fondant
    Swirled piece of green fondant
    • Fill the Christmas trees up with these fondant coils (make sure you apply a coat of shortening first so that the coils stick to the white fondant).
    • Even if you place the coils as close to one another as possible, there might still be white gaps visible. Fill these up with tiny green fondant balls (shaped by hand). 
    A round piece of fondant decorated with a Christmas tree motif
    A round piece of fondant decorated with a Christmas tree motif

    Decorating the trees

    • Finally, add the sprinkles to the Christmas tree cupcake toppers. I used Christmas sprinkles from Fancy Sprinkles in round shapes (these come is lovely red, green, gold and silver combination) and randomly added the red, gold and silver sprinkle balls on the trees. Add a single large yellow sprinkle at the top of the tree. You can also use a yellow star sprinkle if you have.
    • To make sure the sprinkles stay in place on the fondant Christmas trees, use a very light brush of fondant glue. Too much glue can smear the color on the sprinkles so use as a little as possible. A little goes a long way!
    Fancy sprinkles
    A round piece of fondant decorated with a Christmas tree motif and sprinkles

    Attaching the tree topper to the Christmas cupcakes

    • Once all the toppers are done, apply a thin coat of buttercream to your cupcake tops. Attach the Christmas tree toppers on the frosted cupcakes. The buttercream helps to hold them in place on the cupcakes.
    Cupcake covered in buttercream
    A thin layer of frosting on fluffy cupcakes before attaching the toppers
    4 cupcakes with 2d Christmas tree deco
    Festive Christmas Tree Cupcakes for Holiday Dessert Table

    Notes

    Can you use buttercream for the cupcakes?

    Yes, you can. You can use chocolate buttercream. To make chocolate buttercream, simply add some cocoa powder into the buttercream and beat well. Get the full recipe for buttercream recipe (include flavor options) here.

    Can you use a chocolate cupcakes base to make these cupcakes?

    Yes, you can. You can use my chocolate cupcakes recipe (with chocolate chips) to make chocolate Christmas tree cupcakes.

    Like this Christmas cupcakes decorating idea and tutorial? Here are my other posts you should check out

    • Easy Christmas Cake Decorating Tutorial
    • Christmas Wreath Cookies
    • Snowflake Sugar Cookies
    • Sprinkles Cupcakes Decorating Ideas
    • Christmas Reindeer Cupcakes
    • Easy Christmas Cupcakes (Recipe + Tutorial)
    • Mini Christmas Cheesecake
    • Christmas Sprinkle Cookies
    • Snowflake Cookies
    • Cherry Coconut Cookies

    Recipe (Printable)

    Here is the full printable version of the Christmas tree cupcakes recipe and decorating guide:

    4 cupcakes with 2d christmas tree deco

    Christmas Tree Cupcakes

    These Christmas tree cupcakes not only make pretty treats, they're great for gifting too! Here's my full tutorial for these cute cupcakes!
    5 from 13 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Christmas Tree Cupcakes
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Decorating time: 2 hours
    Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
    Yield: 20 cupcakes
    Author: Priya Maha
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Equipment

    • Fondant extruder tool
    • Christmas tree template
    • Round scalloped cutter
    • Sugar craft knife & scriber needle tool
    • Wooden skewers
    Metric - US Customary

    Ingredients

    Cupcakes

    • 190 g self raising flour
    • 100 g butter
    • 175 g castor sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • 140 ml milk
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder

    Frosting and Decoration

      Buttercream

      • 150 g butter salted
      • 300 g icing sugar sifted
      • ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
      • 1 teaspoon milk optional
      • Fondant (in white, green and dark chocolate)
      • Sprinkles in Christmas colors red, green, silver, and gold.
      • Shortening & fondant glue
      Metric - US Customary

      Instructions

      Baking the cupcakes

      • Preheat oven to 170°Celsius. Prepare cupcake liners.
      • Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, for approximately 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl constantly.
      • Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
      • Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt into the creamed mixture in 4 batches, alternating each batch with milk. Start and end with the flour. Mix until the flour is well incorporated.
      • Finally, fold in the vanilla essence.
      • Pour batter into prepared cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes, until the cupcakes are well risen and have turned golden brown.
      • Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing them onto a wire rack to cool further.
      • Keep the cupcakes covered as soon as they turn warm and let them continue to cool down, covered.
      • Frost the cupcakes only when they have completely cooled down.

      Covering with buttercream

      • If the cupcakes are domed, level them with a knife before applying buttercream.
      • To make the buttercream, beat butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.
      • Add vanilla essence and continue beating until the buttercream is all light and fluffy. Add milk if it appears too stiff.
      • Use a palette knife to spread a thin layer of buttercream on top of each cupcakes.

      The Christmas tree template

      • The tree template can be prepared in advance.
      • You can draw this free hand or trace it out from other sources. Make sure the template is resized to fit the top of your cupcake.

      The white background

      • Knead and roll white fondant to about ⅛ inches thick. Cut out medium-sized white round cutouts using a scalloped round cutter. Make sure the size of the circles match the diameter of your cupcake tops so that the fondant covers your cupcakes adequately.

      Tracing the tree

      • Next, use the cut-out Christmas tree template and trace the outline onto the white fondant backgrounds. Make sure the template is well fitted within the white background. In tracing the Christmas tree, suffice if you trace just the tree and not its trunk. Use a needle tool, a skewer or a toothpick to do the tracing.

      Making the tree trunk

      • Next, form the tree trunk. Roll some chocolate fondant into thin strips and coil them up as shown. Use 2 skewers to press the sides and turn them into rectangle coils.
      • Attach shortening to the bottom of the tree outline and attach the trunk to it.

      The tree outline

      • Next, knead some green fondant, roll it into a sausage and put it into the extruder tool that is fitted with the smallest round-holed disc. Piped out long strips of the green fondant, and guide the strips to form outlines on the traced Christmas trees.

      Filling up the trees

      • With the outlines done, it's time to 'fill' the trees up. Again, using the fondant extruder tool, pipe out strips of fondant, but this time, in much shorter lengths (need not be the same length). Roll the ends to make them slightly pointy and coil them up in various sizes.
      • Fill the Christmas trees up with these fondant coils (make sure you apply a coat of shortening first so that the coils stick to the white fondant).
      • Fill up any gaps between the coils with tiny green fondant balls (shaped by hand).

      Decorating the trees

      • Finally, add the sprinkles to the Christmas tree cupcake toppers in random order.
      • To make sure the sprinkles stay in place on the fondant Christmas trees, use a very light brush of fondant glue. Too much glue can smear the color on the sprinkles so use as a little as possible.

      Assembling the Christmas tree cupcakes

      • Once all the toppers are done, attach them to the buttercream covered cupcakes.

      Nutrition

      Calories: 227.6kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6.7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2.9g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 44.1mg | Sodium: 129.7mg | Potassium: 30.7mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 23.9g | Vitamin A: 348.4IU | Calcium: 22.2mg | Iron: 0.2mg
      Tried this recipe?Mention @decorated_treats or tag #decoratedtreats!

      And that's that. Christmas tree cupcakes. Easy right?

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      Reader Interactions

      Comments

      1. Amy Liu Dong

        December 18, 2022 at 2:02 am

        5 stars
        These are so pretty and delicious cupcakes.
        Perfect for Christmas gifting!

        Reply

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