Christmas Tree Cupcakes

        Christmas and cupcakes are two of my favorite things, so what could be better than combining them in these delicious Christmas trees cupcakes? Karen Tack, author of  Hello, Cupcakes said, "This Christmas Tree cupcake may appear a little daunting, but they are actually simple to make" (Tack 150). Truth to be told, it was way harder than I expected. However, these Christmas tree cupcakes are one of the best choices to contribute to Christmas parties. The cupcakes are adorable and sweet; they will certainly not leave you disappointed. 

Material:

§  11.5 oz. of Cake mix

§  4 egg whites

§  1/3 cup of oil

§  1 cup milk  

§  Green Food coloring

§  Large Mixing bowl.

§  7 cupcakes paper liner

§  Sprinkles, Stars

§  Store bought frosting

Steps: 

          Like before, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I mixed 11.5 grams of cake mix. I added ½ cup of milk, one egg, 1/3 cup of oil and cake mix, I mixed it until it became firm. Then, I placed the batter into the paper liners and placed in the oven, I waited around 25-30 minutes and took it out of the oven to let it cool.

        After, I tinted ½ cups of the vanilla frosting green and let the other half remain white. I distributed the white frosting on top of the 7  cupcakes to symbolize the snow. The frosting didn’t have to be pretty but quick and simple, it is just used to enhance the characteristics of the Christmas tree. I applied the store bought white frosting onto the surface of the cupcake, this way, it produces the cupcakes to look more sophisticated and cheerful when the Christmas tree is on top (Tack 152). After applying this technique, it definitely enhanced the characteristics and colors of the Christmas trees.

          Furthermore, I added the green frosting to a Piping bag with a large star tip (Karen 152). When I was putting the star tip inside the piping bag, I realized that I actually bought the wrong star tip size, the base of the star tip was too big and it didn’t fit the tip of the bag. I had to make it work by cutting down the bag size, however, it didn’t work as well as I thought it would have. The large star tip wouldn’t stay in place and kept moving inside the bag, causing the shape of the star to be undistinguished. 

       Lastly, Karen Tack, author of Hello, Cupcakes, explained the techniques on how to get the perfect Christmas trees. She said, “ Move the piping bag in a circle around the outer edges and work your way to the center of the cupcake, releasing pressure gently when you reach the center to leave a nice frosting peak” (Tack 156). Her instructions seemed easy and doable; however, it wasn’t. I had a really hard time pressing the piping bag and moving it in a motion to form the Christmas trees. I think it was mostly the fault of me not buying the right bag and also how inexperienced I was. Continuing on with the procedure, I added a star to the top and little tiny dots to represent the ornaments. The sprinkles once again made the cupcakes look more pleasing and pleasant than it actually was.

I failed...

My only good one.

         Lop sided, ugly, malformed are the characteristics of my Christmas tree cupcakes. This experiment was a total fail, but I still had fun making it. The cupcakes wasnt very pleasant to look at, but it was still delicious. Out of the 7 cupcakes, I only managed to make the Christmas trees on four of them. I will continue to practice, and will definitely be able to get it right next time!

Final Product

Question: Have you ever used a piping bag before? If so, how did it go?

If not, have you ever tried to make Christmas treats for a party or would like to in the future?

            Richardson, Alan, and Karen Tack. Hello, Cupcake! Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print.