Christmas Tree Cupcakes

🧾Supplies Required

• 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.
• 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 sugar craft 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.

Step 1: Bake 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.

Step 2: Cover 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.

Step 3: Prepare the Christmas Tree Template

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.

Note: The tree shape template can be prepared in advance. And you can start making your cupcakes toppers while the cupcakes are baking.

Step 4: Cut the White Background for the Cupcakes

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.

Step 5: Trace the Tree onto the Fondant

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. 

Step 6: Make 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. 

Step 7: Make the Fondant Tree

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. Pipe out long strips of the green fondant, and guide the strips to form outlines on the traced Christmas trees.

Note: If you do not have the extruder tool, you can also roll the fondant with your hands.

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).

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). 

Step 8: Add the Sprinkles

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!

Once all the toppers are done, attach them on the buttercream frosted cupcakes.