HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

All they way from Germany, I’m totally feeling the holiday season!  I’ve been dreaming up all kinds of fantastic ideas for super special Christmas cupcakes… so many actually that I couldn’t choose just one!

I wanted a very white cupcake to use as a base for these cupcakes, so I went with a coconut cupcake and topped it with a coconut cream cheese frosting.  (NOTE: If I were to make these again, I would probably not use cream cheese in my frosting and stick with a straight buttercream recipe.  Cream cheese frosting tends to get really soft and the trees and snowmen will hold up better with a stiffer frosting.)

Make sure to check out the photo slideshow at the bottom with ALL the pictures of these fabulous cupcakes!

Coconut Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes

Supplies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1 tsp coconut extract

3/4 cup AP flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 TBSP baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut milk

1/8 cup hot water
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pans with liners.  (I tried to use a variety of liners to match the themes of the cupcakes I was making.)
2. Cream together the butter and sugar.
3. Add the egg whites and extract and mix on high for 4-5 minutes.  The batter will look like it’s turning into whipped cream, really light and fluffy.
4. Whisk together the cake flour, AP flour, salt and baking powder.
5. Add half the flour mixture to the butter/sugar and mix on low until just combined,  about 10 seconds.
6. Add all the coconut milk and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds.
7. Add the remaining flour and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds.  Note: You don’t want to over mix the flour into the batter.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix the last bit of flour by hand.
8. Add the coconut and hot water and fold in by hand until combined.  Remember, do not over mix!
9. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full of batter.
10. Bake 17-19 minutes or until cupcakes begin to turn golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Let cool in pan for 2-3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
(This makes enough frosting to decorate all the cupcakes I made today… it’s typically enough to normally frost 2-3 dozen cupcakes)

Supplies:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
1/4 cup (or less) coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
2. Add 1/3 of the powdered sugar and beat on high until smooth.
3. Add the extract and mix until combined.
4. Add 1/3 of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
5. A few tbsp at a time, add the coconut milk… do not add it all here.
6. Add the remaining 1/3 of the sugar and salt and beat in until combined.
7. Add more coconut milk until you get your desired consistency.  Remember, this is cream cheese frosting and it gets very SOFT so you won’t need a lot of milk.
8. Mix on high for 1 minute or until smooth.

The North Pole

Supplies:
Cupcake
White frosting
Coconut flakes
Candy cane stick
Red hot candies
North pole flags (I made these and taped them to a toothpick)
Offset small spatula/spreader

Directions:

1. Using your offset spatula, spread a mound of white frosting on top of your cupcake.
2. Using the palm of your hand, pat the frosting with coconut flakes, shaping it into a ball.
3. Place a small dollop of frosting on the tip of a candy cane stick and place a red hot on top.
4. Press candy cane stick 1/3 way into the cupcake.
5. Place North Pole flag next to the candy cane stick.

Christmas Tree

Supplies:
Cupcake
White frosting
Shredded coconut
Green frosting
White chocolate & yellow sprinkles
Various sprinkles (to decorate tree)
Wilton 1M piping tip
2 piping/pastry bags
Offset spatula/spreader

Directions:

1. For the star on top, I melted white chocolate, put it in a piping bag, and piped the shape of a star onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  I then immediately covered it in yellow sprinkles.  I put the stars in the freezer for 20 minutes to set up before place them on top of the piped tree.  Make a few extra in case they break and for variety. You could also do this to create ornament shapes (dots with colored sprinkles).
2. Using your offset spatula, spread a small amount of white frosting on top of the cupcake, completely covering it.
3. Using the palm of your hand, pat the frosting with coconut flakes, making a flat surface.
4. Using the green frosting in a piping bag with the Wilton 1M tip, pipe green frosting in the shape of a tree onto the cupcake.  I used this VIDEO TUTORIAL I found on YouTube to help guide me in this.
5. Use any kind of sprinkles to decorate your tree.  I found that the larger round dots made better ornament shapes.  Really, just use your imagination… the decorating is the fun part!

Snowman

Cupcake
White frosting
Pink/Red Frosting (Or any color you want for the scarf and hat)
White & Dark chocolate
Orange sprinkles
Coupler & 4 piping/pastry bags
Offset spatula

Wreath Cupcakes

Supplies:
Cupcake
White frosting
Green frosting
Red frosting (or any color you want for the bow)
Sprinkles
Frosting/piping/pastry bag
Leaf tip

Directions:
I used the tutorial Jennifer Shea of Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle put together for the Williams-Sonoma blog.  Instead of re-writing it all, you can find that tutorial HERE to create your own Holiday Wreath cupcakes!