Mistletoe Cupcakes are on Sweet Caramel Sunday! With simple ingredients and step by step instructions, you will be able to make these for Christmas!
If you have been wandering around lately thinking: 'How do I make Mistletoe Cupcakes for Christmas', then I have the answer 'Here is how to make Mistletoe Cupakes for Christmas!!' (let's have fun doing it too!!
Hey everyone! So nice to see you here again, thanks for coming back. There are a few things in life every woman (and no doubt man) needs and one of them is a good hairdressor. I am lucky enough to have found one and I have been going to Charlene for years now. One of my work buddies recommend her to me as I was looking for a new person as I had moved to make travel to work easier.
At 1st Charlene came to my house and we sat on the deck whilst she cut my hair. We always had a good chat too and I remember one time there was a swarm of wasps that tried to thwart plans. Another time 2 police went past in a weird golf buggy vehicle, that still to this day I have not seen another one like it. Then I started to go to Charlene's home in the next suburb. Finally she open her salon -Apar Hair studio at Brookwater and has now opened another on in Ripley.
We chat about life, love, relationships and I have told her about every man I have dated and each date I have been on. She didn't shun me after I drank too much vodka and self cut and dyed my fair (it was PRETTY BAD!!!) and everytime I leave an appointment with her I feel like a million bucks! So in my last visit to her before Christmas this year, I wanted to take some Christmas Cupcakes to say thanks for everything. These Mistletoe Cupcakes are them.
I admit that I actually started out with 'White Christmas Cupcakes' in mind, but as the process was underway and the ideas I had were coming together when I was doing the various steps for this recipe, it occured to me that I had made Mistletoe Cupcakes instead. Hey, I'm cool with that, a girl's gotta go with her creative vibe and I was rocking out to some good music with Tonks as my DJ when I made them, so there is probably a bit of inspiration in them from Coldplay, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and John Lennon (my favs!)
These cupcakes look complicated and I am not going to lie, there are a few steps involved, but trust me, I have taken some pics and videos and written step by step instructions and YOU WILL be able to recreate them, I PROMISE xx
About the recipe:
- These are perfect for Christmas presents/treats/events
- You need to set aside a couple of hours to make them
- The salted caramel is used inside and on top of the cupcakes
- These are not diet food
To answer your questions:
- The cupcakes are best served when they have been taken out of the fridge for a bit
- They are suitable for freezing (ie make in advance, then fill and pipe later)
- I used fresh cherries but cranberries would work too (less common in Australia)
- This is a SOMEWHAT COMPLICATED recipe to pull together
Let's do this......you will need 12 cupcakes to start. Let me tell you a secret on this note...packet mix cupcakes ARE FINE. There is no shame or doing wrong in using one.....in you find a good one, keep it and use it as your go to. If anyone asks you, keep your secret, don't even tell your best friend...the only one who needs to know is YOU! I have included my recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes, but let me be your confidant for a moment when I say, if you want to use store bought packet mix cupakes for the rest of your life (and it's a good one), then you go for it. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise, they can SHUSH.
So make your cupcakes, then you need to create a hole in them for the salted caramel filling. I used a pipping nozzle and a teaspoon to scoop this bit of cupcake out. Like the pictures below:
Then we need to make our salted caramel filling. You may want to stick your finger in the saucepan of sticky goodness during this step, but I urge caution as it will be hotter than you think and you don't want to be fingerless at Christmas time!
After your filling is made, you can toast your coconut and whip up your buttercream.
The fillings steps can be a bit messy, but just roll with it, it is fun and will clean up easily with hot water. Then you starting piping on top of the cupcake as you normally would. (This is where I am being your therapist again, IT IS SO FUN TO DO THIS!!!) I took inspiration from Bill Granger for my filling as he has a delicious butterscotch sauce in a cookbook my friends had given me for a present a few years back and IT IS GOOOOOOOOD!!
For your spun sugar sticks (sorry no pic cause it was horrible!!), but here is a video I used in my research: spun sugar tutorial (Good House Keeping UK), it can get VERY MESSY. So prepare yourself in advance. I used mine as sticks to keep with my mistletoe theme (it was about now I made the white christmas/mistletoe realisation, haha!).
Then you just know, I HAD TO TAKE THESE PICS HEY.........yep, I am going to make you drool now..........................
Mistletoe Cupcakes Recipe (with salted caramel filling)
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 280 grams self raising flour
- 100 grams caster sugar
- 2 eggs free range
- ⅔ cup almond milk
- 60 grams butter melted
- 1 tsp imitation vanilla essence
White frosted buttercream
- 5 cups icing sugar
- 400 grams butter
- 2 tbsp almond milk
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tbsp white food dye
Salted Caramel Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 160 grams butter
- 200 ml cream
- 1 tsp himalayan rock salt
Spun Sugar Sticks
- 200 grams caster sugar
- 5 tbsp water
Toasted Coconut
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
Mistletoe
- 12 fresh cherries with long green stems
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees F 82.2 degrees C and line a 12 hole muffin pan with cupcake liners
- Add your dry cupcake ingredients to a mixing bowl
- Then add eggs, milk and melted butter, beat to combine
- Use 2 spoons to fill 12 muffin liners of an even size
- Place cupcake tray in oven for 30 minutes
- When cool, use a piping noozle to make a hole in each cupcake and scoop out cake
Toasted Coconut
- Add coconut to medium sized frypan and cook, moving around with a flat utensil until it turns light brown
White Buttercream
- Add icing sugar and butter to a food processor and pulse to combine, add vanilla essence and milk in 2 pours with a pulse in between, then, pulse again to combine
- Add buttercream to a large bowl, add food colour, beat to combine
Salted Caramel Filling
- Combine sugar, butter and cream in a medium size saucepan. Heat at a medium temperature and stir until sugar dissolves
- Add salt and stir to combine, remove from heat
Spun Sugar Sticks
- Add sugar and water to medium sized saucepan, heat and stir to dissolve sugar
- When the sugar starts to bubble and caramelise, remove from heat and place base of saucepan in water
- Use a fork to spin sugar over a round object suspended between 2 fixed points
- When cooled break into branches
Mistletoe Christmas Cupcakes
- Fill each cupcake with salted caramel filling
- Top with buttercream
- Drizzle salted caramel over buttercream
- Sprinkle with toasted coconut
- Push spun sugar sticks into top of cupcake, a little off centre
- Top each cupcake with a fresh cherry
- Run around the house with a cupcake in hand and when finding your partner or loved ones hold it above your head and say 'we have to kiss under the mistletoe' (Partner on lips, family on cheek, just saying ;p)
Video
Nutrition
If you have ANY questions for this recipe, hit me up, I am always happy to help or explain if I have missed anything.
Here is a recipe for my Cookie Monster Cupcakes is you love these and want to give another of my ideas a whirl.
If you don't want sweet for Christmas, here are some savoury sides to try:
I also wanted to show you a cute pic of Charlene and I from yesterday at her salon. That is her looking so pretty on the left (amazing hair too hey!) and me pre chop on the right!
Enjoy making these, I know you will LOVE them.
Adrianne xx
This is such a seducing treat with salty caramel filling, very hard to resist no matter what your fitness goals are;)
True Gabi! It's all about balance I say!
These cupcakes are adorable! Pinning for Christmas!