Description
These Chocolate Wreath Cupcakes are festive and perfect for holiday celebrations. Moist chocolate cupcakes are topped with creamy green buttercream frosting piped to look like wreaths, decorated with red fondant bows and white fondant flowers for a beautiful seasonal treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup hot water
Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Green food coloring
- Red fondant for bows
- White fondant or sprinkles for flowers
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Pans: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners to ensure cupcakes bake evenly and don’t stick.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, sift together the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to create a uniform dry mix, removing any lumps.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, vegetable oil, whole milk, and vanilla extract until well combined, helping to incorporate air for a light texture.
- Blend Wet and Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring gently until the batter is smooth and fully combined without overmixing.
- Add Hot Water: Slowly stir in the hot water to thin the batter, which helps produce moist cupcakes with tender crumbs.
- Fill and Bake: Fill each cupcake liner about two-thirds full with batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool Cupcakes: Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting to prevent melting.
- Prepare Buttercream Frosting: Beat the softened unsalted butter in a mixing bowl until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar on low speed to avoid dust clouds, then add vanilla extract and heavy cream, beating until light, smooth, and fluffy.
- Color Frosting: Add green food coloring gradually to achieve your desired wreath-like shade of green in the buttercream.
- Pipe Frosting: Using a piping bag fitted with a star tip, pipe circular swirls on top of each cupcake to resemble festive wreaths.
- Decorate: Roll the red fondant into small bows and create white fondant flowers or use white sprinkles, then place them carefully on the cupcakes to complete the holiday wreath appearance.
Notes
- Ensure cupcakes are completely cool before frosting to prevent buttercream from melting.
- You can substitute heavy cream with milk for a lighter frosting consistency, but it may be less rich.
- Use gel food coloring for more vibrant colors without thinning the frosting.
- Fondant decorations can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: thirty grams
- Sodium: 170 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 50 mg
