Elf and Santa Cupcakes

• butter↗175g g

  softened

• golden sugar↗175g g
• eggs↗3
• self‑raising flour↗200g g
• orange↗1

  zest and 1/2 juice

• cinnamon↗pinch of
• vanilla extract↗1 tsp tsp
• unsalted butter↗100g g

  softened

• vanilla extract↗2 tsp tsp
• powdered sugar↗250g g

  sifted

• powdered sugar for marzipan↗
• sugar sticks
• raspberry‑flavoured sugar pencils↗
• black, green and white marzipan icing
• gold and silver balls↗
• наш завантажуваний шаблон димоходу (див. метод)

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 190 °C/170 °C fan/gas 5. Line the cupcake molds with paper boxes. Place all cupcake ingredients into a large bowl, using 4 tbsp orange juice, then whisk for 1–2 minutes until smooth.

2. 2

   Spoon the batter into the boxes, filling them three‑quarters full. Bake for 15–18 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack.

3. 3

   For the icing, beat butter, vanilla and powdered sugar until pale and creamy; if needed add 1–2 tbsp warm water to loosen. Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes with a spatula or pastry bag, creating swirls deep enough to hold Santa’s and the elf’s feet.

4. 4

   For the feet, prepare a portion of marzipan icing according to the package instructions. Cut sugar sticks and sugar pencils to 4 cm length. Use the green marzipan icing to form elf boots around the sugar‑stick feet, and black icing to form Santa’s boots around the sugar‑pencil feet. Add a little white icing around the top of Santa’s boots. Use the prepared icing to attach a silver or gold ball to each toe of the elf’s boots. Let the boots dry completely. Using our chimney template, make paper sleeves that wrap around the cupcake boxes. Insert the feet into the cupcakes just before serving.