Christmas Chocolate Reindeer Cupcakes
Make these adorable, decadent Christmas Chocolate Reindeer Cupcakes! They are chocolate cupcakes topped with smooth chocolate buttercream and decorated with eye candy, pretzels, and red Smarties or Skittles! Serve during the festive season.
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 532kcal
Equipment
- Cupcake tin
- mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 200 g caster sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter softened and cubed
- 1 large egg
- 100 ml whole milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate buttercream
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 300 g icing sugar
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
Decoration
- Pretzels chopped in half
- Red smarties, m&ms or skittles
- eye sweets
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4 and line a cupcake tin with green paper cases. In a bowl, whisk together self-raising flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and set aside.
- In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat well.
- Fold in half of the flour mixture, then half of the milk, and repeat with the remaining flour and milk. Do not overmix the batter.
- Spoon the batter into the paper cases, filling them about ¾ full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Chocolate buttercream
- To make the buttercream, beat unsalted butter on low speed for a minute, then add half of the icing sugar and cocoa powder and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add the rest of the icing sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla essence, and milk and beat until smooth and spreadable.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before frosting them.
Decorate
- To decorate the cupcakes, pipe some buttercream on top of each one. Then, add two pretzels for the antlers, two candy eyes for the eyes, and one red candy for the nose. You have just made some adorable Christmas Chocolate Reindeer Cupcakes!
Video
Notes
- Mixing: To make the batter, combine the wet and dry ingredients just until they are well incorporated. Do not overmix, or you will end up with tough and chewy cupcakes.
- Dry ingredients: Sifting the dry ingredients, such as flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, will help create a smooth and airy batter that will bake into light and fluffy cupcakes. Also, make sure to use room temperature ingredients, such as butter, eggs, and milk, for both the batter and the frosting. This will allow them to blend together more easily and evenly.
- Weighing scale: For accurate measurements, use a scale to weigh your ingredients, especially the flour and the butter. This will ensure that you have the right proportions and avoid adding too much or too little of any ingredient.
Nutrition
Serving: 173g | Calories: 532kcal | Carbohydrates: 84.68g | Protein: 6.13g | Fat: 20.03g | Saturated Fat: 12.142g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.916g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5.793g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 314mg | Potassium: 377mg | Fiber: 1.7g | Sugar: 66.07g | Vitamin A: 641IU | Calcium: 203mg | Iron: 1.97mg