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Christmas cupcakes are a great treat to have around for those special moments with friends and family. This page presents tips for decorating cupcakes in the holiday spirit, as well as ideas for making snowman, reindeer and holly-themed treats. If you have no idea how to decorate Christmas cupcakes, then this page is exactly what you need.
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Christmas Cupcake Decorating Tips
- Red and green are the traditional colors associated with Christmas.
- Frosting is thicker than icing and should be used for upright figures.
- A variety of edible decorations can be used on cupcakes, including candy confetti, sprinkles and non-pareils.
- Pastry bags and fondant are two things you can use to create images.
- Try adding a few drops of red or green food coloring to vanilla cupcakes.
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Christmas Tree Fairy Cake
Christmas cupcakes can be decorated in many different ways. The video illustrates how to use a pastry bag and tip to pipe a Christmas tree out of green tinted icing. The tree is topped with a star that is cut out of a sheet of yellow tinted rolled fondant.
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Christmas Cupcake Decorating Basics
- There are traditional colors and images that are associated with Christmas, as well as a few nontraditional, yet popular, ideas you may want to consider when decorating your Christmas cupcakes. For even more ideas, check out Mahalo's how to decorate Christmas cookies.
- Colors: The traditional colors of Christmas are red and green. However, blue and white are also popular colors because they are associated both with winter and Hanukkah. You can get these colors by using colored icing, colored sanding sugar and food color spray.
- Images: Certain images associated with Christmas that are good for decorating cupcakes include pine trees, presents, Santa Claus, snowmen (especially Frosty), reindeer (especially Rudolph), holly, candy canes, poinsettias and wreaths.
- Frosting : Some of the major types of frosting include buttercream, royal, ganache and fondant.
- Use frosting or thick icing for anything that needs to stand upright.Wilton: Icing Consistency
- Use medium icing for decorations such as stars, borders and flowers with flat petals. Medium icing will give uniformity to things you create. Wilton: Icing Consistency
- Use thin icing for printing and writing, vines and leaves.Wilton: Icing Consistency
- For more information, check out Mahalo's How to Frost Cupcakes, How to Make Buttercream Icing, How to Make Royal Icing or How to Make Vanilla Icing.
- Adding details: You can add details to your cupcakes by using decorating icing, gel icing, candy writers, food color markers or food color spray.
- Edible decorations: When looking to add decoration to your cupcakes, there are a variety of things you can include that will also be edible: edible glitter, candy confetti, jimmies or sprinkles, non-pareils (tiny candy beads) or colored sanding sugar.
Using Stencils
- A quick and easy way to decorate cupcakes is to stencil a design over the top of them. To do this, all you need is frosted cupcakes, a topping and a stencil. You can also use this technique to decorate cakes, cookies and brownies.
- There are a variety of toppings you can use to make your design including:
- Colored sugar.About.com: How to Make Colored Sugar
- Colored powdered sugar.FabulousFoods.com: How to Make Tinted Sugars and Coconut (July 29, 2007)
- Colored coconut.FabulousFoods.com: How to Make Tinted Sugars and Coconut (July 29, 2007)
- Sanding sugar.MarthaStewart.com: Stenciled Halloween Cakes
- Ground ginger and confectioners' sugar.MarthaStewart.com: Stenciled Halloween Cakes
- Cocoa powder and cinnamon.Slashfood: How to Make Cupcake Stencils
- Food color spray.Martha Stewart Crafts: Cake Stencils
- Crushed peppermint candy.
- You can make your own stencils very easily. If you are interested, check out Mahalo's page on How to Make Stencils. However, cupcake and cookie stencils are fairly inexpensive and can be purchased online at any of the following locations:
- Wilton: Holiday Cupcake and Cookie Stencils
- Crate and Barrel: Holiday Cupcake Stencils
- CopperGifts.com: Winter Holiday Cookie Stencils
Using Cupcake Molds and Pans
- Anyone who believes that cupcakes have to be round has never seen some of the unique cupcake pans out there. Pans come in a whole variety of shapes including stars, snowmen and trees. These unique shaped pans can be found online:
- Google Product Search: Christmas Cupcake Pan
- Hometown Celebrations: Star Cupcake Pan
- Oriental Trading: Snowman Muffin Pan | Star-Shaped Cupcake Pan
- Cupcake molds are an alternative to cupcake pans. In some ways, they are more like miniature cake pans. Tovolo makes silicone pans that are available in star, gingerbread man and tree shapes. They can be found online as well:
- Amazon.com: Tovolo Silicone Holiday Cupcake Molds
- ChefTools: Tovolo Holiday Cupcake Molds
- Collections Etc: Holiday Silicone Cupcake Molds
Creating Images Using Pastry Bags
- A pastry or decorating bag is a great tool for creating professional looking cupcakes, as well as allowing you to add different designs onto your cupcakes.RecipeTips.com: Pastry Bag Homemakers.com: 10 Expert Tips for Making Great Cupcakes For information on how to set up a pastry bag, check out the section about using a pastry bag on Mahalo's How to Frost Cupcakes page. There are two ways you can use a pastry bag to create images on your cupcakes.
- One way to use a pastry bag is to draw an outline on the cupcake that is then filled in with icing. This allows you to create a variety of shapes.
- Use stiff frosting and a small writing tip to create your outline.Goodhousekeeping.com: Cookie Decorating Tips - Christmas Cookies
- When you reach the beginning of your outline, stop squeezing, touch the tip to the frosting and then lift your pastry bag.CakeWorksCentral.com: Cookie Decorating 101
- Seal the seam with a paintbrush dipped in water.CakeWorksCentral.com: Cookie Decorating 101
- Let the frosting dry.Goodhousekeeping.com: Cookie Decorating Tips - Christmas Cookies
- Fill in the outline with thinner icing using a spoon, a squeeze bottle, a decorating bag without a tip or a heavy-duty plastic bag with one corner cut to a 1/2-inch opening.CakeWorksCentral.com: Cookie Decorating 101 Goodhousekeeping.com: Cookie Decorating Tips - Christmas Cookies
- Let the cupcake dry for at least two hours.CakeWorksCentral.com: Cookie Decorating 101
- You can also create more 3-dimensional images using a pastry bag. However, this involves more skill. You may want to practice on wax paper first.Moms Menu: Holiday Cupcakes One of the simpler techniques involves writing Christmas sayings onto the cupcakes.Wilton: Script Writing Some other examples of this method can be found on the following pages:
- Sweet Cakes: Cupcakes
- Celebrating Christmas: Christmas Tree Cupcakes
- FamilyFun.com: Claus Cupcakes Recipe
- Moms Menu: Holiday Cupcakes
- Slashfood: Santa Hat Cupcakes
- Rich's: Christmas Tree Cupcakes
- Wilton: Christmas Trees | Reindeer | Santa in Flight
- Wilton Cupcake Fun: Wreath Reward Cupcakes | Star of the Sleigh Cupcakes
- YouTube Video: Easy, Great Looking Christmas Tree Fairy Cake (Time: 1:59)
Creating Images Using Fondant
- Fondant is a very thick form of icing that is often used on wedding cakes, but it can also be used to decorate Christmas cupcakes. You can either purchase it ready-to-use or make your own fondant. Some recipes for fondant include:
- About.com: Uncooked Fondant Recipe | Basic Fondant Recipe
- Allrecipes: Rolled Fondant | Rolled Buttercream Fondant
- MarthaStewart.com: White-Chocolate Fondant
- Recipezaar: Fondant Recipe Search
- Food Network: Fondant Recipe | Rolled Fondant Recipe
Fondant Tips
- Here are a few tips on how to make the best use of your fondant.
- Your work surface should be clean and smooth.Expert Village: Tips for Working with Cake Fondant (Time: 1:16)
- Use margarine or shortening to to keep your hands from sticking to the fondant.Expert Village: Tips for Working with Cake Fondant (Time: 1:16)
- Dust your work surface and tools with confectioners sugar or cornstarch to prevent the fondant from sticking to it.Expert Village: Tips for Working with Cake Fondant (Time: 1:16) Wilton: Fondant Leaves
- To color fondant, use a few drops of food coloring and knead it until you get the shade desired. You can also paint shapes with food coloring to get bolder colors.The Journal of a Girl who Loves To Cook: Fondant @ Sugarpaste (September 5, 2007)
- Roll out your fondant so it is about 1/8 inch thick.Wilton: Fondant Leaves
- Use a small blade or cookie cutters to cut out images you want.The Journal of a Girl who Loves To Cook: Fondant @ Sugarpaste (September 5, 2007) Christmas cookie cutters are available online at the following locations:
- Google Product Search: Christmas Cookie Cutters
- Amazon.com: Christmas Cookie Cutters Search
- Wilton: 3 Pc. Christmas Cutter Set
- ShopBakersNook.com: Christmas Cookie Cutters
- Crate and Barrel: Chocolate Cookie Cutters | Holiday Linzer Cookie Cutter Set | Holiday Cookie Cutter Set
- CopperGifts.com: Christmas Cookie Cutters
- The Cookie Cutter Shop: Christmas Themed Cookie Cutters
- A few other examples on how fondant can be used include:
- Expert Village: Making Fondant Shapes for Cakes (Time: 1:30)
Snowman Cupcakes
- Snowman, once simply a sign of winter, became permanently connected to the Christmas holiday by the most infamous one of all, Frosty. So, it is not surprising if you want to create your own snowman cupcakes this Christmas. There are essentially three different ways to make a cupcake into a snowman. All of the designs begin with white-frosted cupcakes.
- The first, and probably easiest, design involves drawing a face onto the cupcake.
- Create the eyes and mouth using black icing, mini candies, miniature chocolate chips, or melted candy.Wilton Cupcake Fun: Snow Much Fun Cupcakes Moms Menu: Holiday Cupcakes Wilton Cupcake Fun: A Warm Smile Cupcakes
- The nose can be created using candy corn or cut yellow spice drops.Moms Menu: Holiday Cupcakes Wilton Cupcake Fun: Snow Much Fun Cupcakes
- A hat can be created using two spice drops.Wilton Cupcake Fun: Snow Much Fun Cupcakes One is rolled flat and the other is set on top.Moms Menu: Holiday Cupcakes
- Marshmallows can also be used to create a 3-D snowman on top of your cupcakes. Pieces are attached to each other using icing.MarthaStewart.com: Snowman Cupcakes
- Create the body using two marshmallows.
- Cut a slice off the top marshmallow and squish it to make it smaller.MarthaStewart.com: Snowman Cupcakes
- Flatten the bottom marshmallow slightly with your hand.FamilyFun.com: Frosty the Cupcake Recipe
- Set the smaller marshmallow on top of the larger one and secure with icing.
- You may want to push a thin pretzel stick through the marshmallows to help the keep the snowman upright before setting him on the cupcake.FamilyFun.com: Frosty the Cupcake Recipe
- Eyes can be created using chocolate sprinkles (use a toothpick to poke holes into the marshmallow and insert them) or decorator's gel.MarthaStewart.com: Snowman Cupcakes FamilyFun.com: Frosty the Cupcake Recipe
- A hat can be created using chocolate-covered mints or a combination of chocolate-covered mints and thin chocolate cookies.MarthaStewart.com: Snowman Cupcakes FamilyFun.com: Frosty the Cupcake Recipe
- A nose can be cut from a gummy fish or an orange slice.MarthaStewart.com: Snowman Cupcakes FamilyFun.com: Frosty the Cupcake Recipe
- The mouth and buttons can be drawn on using decorator's gel or food coloring markers.FamilyFun.com: Frosty the Cupcake Recipe
- Arms can be created using pretzel sticks.FamilyFun.com: Frosty the Cupcake Recipe
- A scarf can be created using fruit leather.FamilyFun.com: Frosty the Cupcake Recipe
- Create the body using two marshmallows.
- The third design is similar to the second one, except that it is created using a mini-cupcake. To start, you need to create the base of your snowman. You can either frost the top or remove the paper and frost the entire cupcake except the bottom.The Times and Democrat.com: Holly, Jolly Holidays -- Create and celebrate with the Red and Green Howstuffworks: Snowman Cupcakes Sprinkle with shredded coconut, if desired.Howstuffworks: Snowman Cupcakes
- There are two ways to create the rest of the snowman:
- Remove the paper and frost the top and sides of the mini cupcakes. Coat with coconut and attach it to the larger cupcake with frosting. Then, attach a marshmallow to the top of the mini cupcake with frosting.Howstuffworks: Snowman Cupcakes
- Place a frosted mini cupcake on its side on the top (to one side) of the cupcake.The Times and Democrat.com: Holly, Jolly Holidays -- Create and celebrate with the Red and Green Again, attach it with frosting.
- Hats can be created using inverted peanut butter cups or unwrapped milk chocolate squares and round chocolate candy.Howstuffworks: Snowman Cupcakes The Times and Democrat.com: Holly, Jolly Holidays -- Create and celebrate with the Red and Green
- Arms can be created using pretzels.Howstuffworks: Snowman Cupcakes
- Other features can be created using small candies or decorating frosting.The Times and Democrat.com: Holly, Jolly Holidays -- Create and celebrate with the Red and Green
- There are two ways to create the rest of the snowman:
Holly Cupcakes
- Deck the cupcakes with boughs of holly, or rather images of holly. These cupcakes can be one of the quickest designs you can create.
- Create the leaves using spearmint jelly leaves, green citron pieces or green candied pineapple pieces.Wilton Cupcake Fun: Holly Leaves Cupcakes Cooking for 2: Candied Holly Cupcakes Recipe You can slice the jelly leaves to make them thinner.MarthaStewart.com: Holly Cupcakes
- Create the berries using cinnamon drop candies, sour-cherry candies, red candy-coated chocolates or candied cherries cut in half.Wilton Cupcake Fun: Holly Leaves Cupcakes MarthaStewart.com: Holly Cupcakes Wilton: Holly Cupcakes Cooking for 2: Candied Holly Cupcakes Recipe
- You can also use a pastry bag or Fondant the create the leaves and berries.
Reindeer Cupcakes
- It doesn't matter if you want to create Rudolph or the entire sleigh team, reindeer cupcakes are easy to make. Start with chocolate frosted cupcakes. You might want to add chocolate sprinkles to look like fur.Gather: Christmas Treats: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Cupcakes
- Create the antlers using a pretzel. It can either be a twist pretzel cut in half or two straight pretzels.Betty Crocker: Reindeer Cupcakes Gather: Christmas Treats: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Cupcakes
- The eyes can be created using miniature marshmallows, white chocolate covered raisins. M&Ms or other candy.Betty Crocker: Reindeer Cupcakes Gather: Christmas Treats: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Cupcakes FamilyFun.com: Rudolph the Red-nosed Cupcake Recipe You can then use black decorators' gel frosting to create the iris.FamilyFun.com: Rudolph the Red-nosed Cupcake Recipe
- Use walnut halves to create the ears.Gather: Christmas Treats: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Cupcakes
- Create the nose with red lollipops, small red gumdrops, red M&M's or red sour balls.FamilyFun.com: Rudolph the Red-nosed Cupcake Recipe Betty Crocker: Reindeer Cupcakes Gather: Christmas Treats: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Cupcakes
- A mouth can be created using red shoestring licorice or red cinnamon candies.FamilyFun.com: Rudolph the Red-nosed Cupcake Recipe Betty Crocker: Reindeer Cupcakes
Presents Cupcakes
- Cupcakes can become miniature presents with the addition of a bow. However, if you want a traditional square present, check out some of the square muffin pans available online:
- Google Product Search: Square Muffin Pan
- The Home Marketplace Online: Square Muffin Pan
- Kitchen Krafts: Square Muffin Pan
- Once you have your cupcakes baked, you will want to frost them in a variety of colors before adding the bow. Afterwards, you might want to add name tags to your cupcakes and use them for place setting holders.CupcakeRecipes.com: Christmas Cupcake Ideas Bows can be created in various ways, including:
- Using buttercream icing.Wilton: Frosting Bows
- Using royal icing.Wilton: Bow Loops
- Using rolled red spice drops to create a double-looped or a multi-looped bow.Wilton Cupcake Fun: Wreath Reward Cupcakes Wilton Cupcake Fun: Big Bright Bow! Cupcakes
- Using fondant to create any of the following bows:
- Wilton: Fondant Bow and Loops
- Wilton Cupcake Fun: Tree-mendously Generous Mini Cakes
- Wilton Cupcake Fun: Fluffy Bow Cupcakes
- Expert Village Videos: How to Make a Fondant Bow (Time: 2:14)
Cupcakes with a Christmas Taste
- If you're not into decorating cupcakes, check out some of these recipes that have a distinct Christmas taste to them.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Food Network: Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- Recipezaar: Festive Deep Red Velvet Christmas Cupcakes Recipe
- Epicurious.com: Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Simply Recipes: Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- For more information check out Mahalo's How to Make Red Velvet Cake and How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting.
- YouTube Video: Cooking @ DISH - Red Velvet Cupcakes (Time: 9:21)
Other Ideas
- Add a couple of drops of red or green food coloring to vanilla cupcakes and swirl it around with a knife before you bake them to keep the Christmas feeling going.Teamsugar: Christmas Cupcakes!
- Grated coconut and powdered sugar is a great combination to make snow on top of your cupcakes.CupcakeRecipes.com: Christmas Cupcake Ideas: Part One
- Arrange solid colored cupcakes into shapes such as Christmas trees, wreaths and snowflakes.Taste of Home Recipes: Cupcake Christmas Tree Recipe The Question to Everyone's Answer: Holiday Baking, Part 1 For trees, you might want to place the cupcakes in tiers.Bright Ideas: Cupcake Christmas Tree You can then add decorations using frosting or candy.
- You can add premade candy decorations to emphasize a theme or create a scene on your cupcakes.Wilton Cupcake Fun: Snowdrift Cupcakes Wilton Cupcake Fun: Wintery Woods Cupcakes
- Christmas cupcake wrappers can add a finishing touch to your cupcake. They are available almost everywhere including:
- Google Product Search: Christmas Cupcake Wrappers
- Martha Stewart Crafts: Cupcake Wrappers
- Crate and Barrel: Holiday Cupcake Papers | Foil Cupcake Papers
- Organize.com: Santa Standard Cupcake Cups | Snowflake Standard Cupcake Cups
- ShopBakersNook.com: Christmas Cupcake Liners
- Cupcake picks are plastic or wooden images that can be inserted into cupcakes as decorations. They are readily available almost any place that sells baking supplies as well as online:
- Google Product Search: Christmas Cupcake Picks
- Baking Shop: Christmas Cake Decorating Supplies
- ShopBakersNook.com: Christmas Cake Picks
Conclusion
- Now that you've got your Christmas cupcakes, you might want to find out how to bake and decorate Christmas cookies, how to make gingerbread men or build a gingerbread house. You should also check out Mahalo's Christmas category for new Christmas how tos that have recently been added.
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