Description
Magical Christmas Light Cupcakes sparkle with festive cheer, bringing holiday spirit to your dessert table. Delicate vanilla cake adorned with colorful buttercream and sprinkled lights makes sweet memories you’ll cherish long after the season ends.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Cake Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tsp baking powder
Frosting & Decoration:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup multi-colored sprinkles
- 12 edible Christmas light candy decorations
Color & Flavor Additions:
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2–3 drops red food coloring
- 2–3 drops green food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with festive paper liners.
- Cream butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.
- Incorporate eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition to ensure smooth consistency.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Gradually fold dry ingredients into the wet mixture, alternating with milk to maintain a silky batter.
- Divide batter into two portions, adding red food coloring to one and green food coloring to the other.
- Gently swirl the red and green batters together in each cupcake liner, creating a marbled holiday effect.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack for approximately 30 minutes.
- Whip butter for frosting until creamy, then gradually add powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.
- Beat frosting until smooth and pipeable, adjusting consistency with additional cream if needed.
- Pipe white frosting onto cooled cupcakes using a star-tipped pastry bag.
- Sprinkle multi-colored sprinkles around the frosting edges.
- Carefully place an edible Christmas light candy decoration on top of each cupcake.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set the frosting before serving.
Notes
- Carefully alternate red and green batters when swirling to create vibrant, balanced marble patterns without overmixing.
- Use gel food coloring for more intense, richer holiday colors that won’t thin out the cupcake batter’s consistency.
- Room temperature ingredients like eggs and milk ensure smoother blending and a more uniform, tender cupcake texture.
- For gluten-free versions, substitute all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend to maintain the recipe’s delicate structure.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 260
- Sugar: 26 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg