Christmas comes with loads of traditional baking goodies, (and trust me, I’ve got some coming up soon!) but this year I wanted to make something fun and different.

So this year I’ve combined two of my favourite food/Christmas treats, and created the candy-cane cupcake! These cupcakes have a refreshing mint taste, just like candy canes, with a red and white striped frosting. These cupcakes are a great treat, and even make an adorable present!

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Ingredients:

For the sponge:

80g unsalted butter           1/4 tsp salt

240ml whole milk          1 tsp vanilla essence

2 large eggs                   280g caster sugar

240g plain flour               1 tbsp baking powder

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For the frosting:

500g icing sugar          160g unsalted butter

4 tsp peppermint essence          50ml whole milk

red food colouring       edible glitter (any colour!)

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Method:

Preheat the oven to 190°c, and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

Mix together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Place the milk in a jug with the vanilla essence, add the eggs and mix together by hand. Then pour 3/4 of this mixture into the dry mixture and mix on a low speed to combine. Slowly increase the speed until all of the ingredients are well mixed together.

Fill the muffin cases 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until well-risen and springy to the touch. Then leave them on a wire rack to cool.

For the icing, mix the icing sugar, butter and peppermint essence on a low speed until the mixture is sandy in consistency.

Gradually add the milk and mix until well combined, then increase the speed until light and fluffy.

Split the frosting into two bowls, adding the red food colouring to one bowl.

Finally, fill the piping bag with half white and half red frosting, alternating the colours and ensuring they touch one another, and are not on top of each other. This will ensure the frosting is striped like a candy-cane! Ice your cakes, and you’re done!

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That’s it for today’s recipe, I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Let me know if you’re going to make these, I’d love to see them!