Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Amethyst · December 21, 2025, 3:23pm

Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cupcakes:

100 g (½ cups) Granulated sugar
100 g (½ cups) Brown sugar
80 g (⅓ cups) Vegetable oil
120 g (½ cups) Whole milk, room temperature
120 g (½ cups) Freshly brewed coffee,e room temperature
1 Egg room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
180 g (1½ cups) All-purpose flour
50 g (½ cups) Cocoa powder
½ teaspoon Baking powder
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Baking soda

Chocolate ganache filling – optional:

45 g (¼ cups) semi-sweet chocolate
60 g (¼ cups) Heavy Cream 36% fat content

American Buttercream Frosting:

226 g (1 cup) Unsalted butter 82% fat content European-style butter, use it softened
360 g (3 cups) Powdered sugar sifted
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon Salt
3 tablespoons Heavy cream 36% fat content
Green food coloring gel, eg, Americolor or high-quality powder

Decoration:
sprinkles

US customary cup measurement is an indicative figure only. Measure the ingredients with a digital scale by weight (grams). Baking is an art but also a science, which requires precision and accuracy.

Directions:

Chocolate cupcakes:

Prepare your cupcake tin by lining it with muffin liners and preheat your oven to 175℃ / 347℉ (no fan).

With an electric hand mixer, whip together the wet ingredients for 1-2 minutes: room temperature egg, oil, sugar, coffee, milk, and vanilla extract.

Sift dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Then, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold just until combined.

Spoon the batter evenly into the cavities of your cupcake tin, filling each one about ¾ full.

Bake the chocolate cupcake for about 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake them, as they can dry out.

Cool the baked cupcakes on a cooling rack. They must be at room temperature before frosting.

Continue with ganache (optional):

Place finely chopped chocolate into a bowl.

Heat the heavy cream until just simmering, then pour warm cream over the chopped chocolate.

Let the two sit for a minute, then stir together or use a blender to emulsify.

Let the ganache cool for 30 minutes; it should set into a creamy chocolate filling texture.

Make the frosting:

Cream the room-temperature butter at medium-high speed for 3 minutes until it becomes light in color and fluffy in texture.

Add in the powdered sugar tablespoon by tablespoon on low speed, then turn the mixer back on medium-high speed and whip it for another 4 minutes or until the mixture becomes light, fluffy, and increases in volume.

Lastly, add the vanilla extract, salt, and heavy cream, and continue whipping for another minute until it is smooth and silky. Take out about ⅓-1/4 of the frosting - this will be the white part - and color the rest green using high-quality gel or powder food coloring.

The frosting should have the perfect pipeable, fluffy texture. If, for some reason, it is too thick, add some more cream (1 tablespoon at a time). If the frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar (1 tablespoon at a time).

Assembling:

If you made the ganache, make a small hole on top of each of the cupcakes and fill them with chocolate ganache. Pop them into the freezer for 3 minutes to set.

Place the white frosting into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping nozzle tip and pipe one layer of white frosting on each of the cupcakes.

Place the green frosting into another piping bag using the same nozzle tip and pipe the Christmas tree pattern on top.

Decorate with sprinkles and dust with icing sugar for a snow effect, if desired.

The cupcakes are best served fresh. Any leftovers can be stored refrigerated for 2-3 days in an air-tight container. Bring them back to room temperature before serving, for the frosting to soften.

Notes:

Storing and freezing:

The cupcakes are best served fresh. Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Bring the Christmas cupcakes back to room temperature before serving, as the buttercream frosting will harden in the refrigerator.

You can make the chocolate cupcake bases in advance and freeze them until ready to use; because we all need more time at Christmas! Wrap in plastic food wrap and place into ziplock bags.

Flavor variations:

I sometimes like to add a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg to the cupcakes to give them even more of a festive feeling. You could also add some orange zest, too.

Feel free to swap out the cupcake base with other flavors, for example, the vanilla cupcake base used in my white chocolate cupcakes, or use a different filling, like a caramel filling.

Swap out the buttercream frosting for mascarpone frosting or cream cheese frosting.

You can add extra flavor to the frosting by using 100% pistachio paste or matcha powder to make the Christmas tree cupcake frosting green. But remember that the more you add, the stronger the taste and the color will be.

Try this recipe with almond flour instead of the all-purpose flour to make them gluten-free. You could also try using a good quality, high-fat vegan butter substitute, oat cream, and one of these egg substitutes to make these vegan or dairy-free.

Read some of my expert tips for the best results:

Always use room-temperature ingredients in these Xmas tree cupcakes so they properly emulsify.
I use 3% whole milk, 82% European-style butter, and 36% heavy cream in all my recipes. Ensure your oil is neutral in flavor, like vegetable oil.
We use unsweetened, 100% cocoa powder to make these Chocolate Christmas tree cupcakes. Use Dutch-process cocoa powder; it has a lovely dark color and lower acidity. Make sure the chocolate for the ganache has a high cocoa solids percentage for the best flavor.
Make sure the butter is only softened and not melted when you make the buttercream, or it will be a sloppy soup and not frosting.
Mix the powdered sugar into the butter at a low speed, or a sugar cloud will form in your kitchen! And, always sift powdered sugar to avoid lumpy frosting.
Use the buttercream frosting within a couple of hours, or place it in the fridge until needed. However, as buttercream hardens in the refrigerator, you will need to leave it on the counter to come up in temperature before it is ready to pipe. You may also need to whip it up again in the stand mixer for a minute.
When using food coloring, avoid cheap supermarket liquid food coloring and aim for high-quality gel or powder food coloring that creates a bright color without needing to use a lot of it. Liquid coloring can break the frosting.

The frosting recipe above is enough to frost 12 cupcakes generously.

You might be able to make more or fewer cupcakes with this recipe, depending on the size of the cupcake tin cavities.

Ingredient notes:

Measure your ingredients with a Digital scale for accuracy.
All cupcake ingredients must be at room temperature to properly emulsify: eggs, coffee, and milk.
Use high-fat (36%) heavy cream and good-quality high-fat (82%) butter for making buttercream.
It is key to use high-quality vanilla for the best flavor; feel free to try my homemade vanilla extract.

Technique notes:

Make sure you read my expert tips section above to maximize your success. A short recipe alone is not able to cover all the necessary details and science behind baking.
A digital scale is required for a consistent, happy baking experience.
Do not overwork the cupcake batter. After whipping the wet ingredients, switch to a rubber spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients.
Always preheat your oven and consider using a digital oven thermometer for the best results.
Baking these cupcakes takes 22 minutes in my oven. However, you should focus on the texture, not the time. Apply the toothpick test (it should come out clean) to avoid overbaked cupcakes. Do not overbake them, as that will result in a dry texture.
When making the buttercream, the temperature and texture of the butter are key. Wait until it is soft. However, avoid last-minute microwaving.
When adding the powdered sugar, reduce the speed of the mixer to avoid creating a huge powder sugar cloud.
Note that the buttercream texture is best straight after making it when the butter is at the right temperature (room temperature), and the mixture is freshly whipped. I like to use the frosting immediately or store it at room temperature in a piping bag for a few hours. If stored in the refrigerator, you will need to bring it back to room temperature before using it, and you might need to give it another minute or two to whip in the stand mixer to increase the volume again.

Nutritional Facts:

Recipe courtesy of Spatula Desserts.com