White Christmas Cupcakes with White Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream
This post, for White Christmas Cupcakes with White Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream, is created for #ChristmasSweetsWeek in conjunction with sponsor products. All opinions are mine alone.
When deciding what sweet treats to make for #ChristmasSweetsWeek, I instantly knew I wanted to make cupcakes with a fun and festive topper. So I thought about a white being synonymous with Christmas. There’s snow, there’s the song White Christmas, red, green and white are Christmas colors so I went with white.
These cupcakes look like a winter white. They are light and fluffy for a couple of reasons. First, The order you add ingredients is backwards compared to other recipes. Usually you cream butter and sugar then add dry ingredients. In this recipe you mix the dry, add the softened butter, then eggs and the wet ingredients. I’ve never made a recipe like this before but I was intrigued. A tablespoon of baking powder and the use of egg whites also add to the fluffiness. So does cake flour and superfine sugar. If you don’t have superfine sugar, it’s really easy to make with granulated sugar. Do not use confectioners’ sugar.
To make superfine sugar, take granulated sugar, I used Dixie Crystals, and pulse it in either a food processor or blender. It’s not equal measure so make some superfine sugar and be sure to measure the amount you need for the recipe. Make more if necessary. (See I told you it was easy.)
The Christmas tree toppers are really easy to make. You just need a few things – thin pretzel sticks, green candy melts and Sweets and Treats sprinkles. I melted half of the package of candy melts, laid pretzels sticks on a sheet of waxed paper.
I put the melted candy in a decorating bag fitted with a number 3 tip and just squiggled back and forth across the pretzel to make ti look like a tree. While the candy was still wet, sprinkle sprinkles over each tree.
Like I mentioned in my post for white chocolate bark, use a good quality white chocolate for the frosting. Remember better ingredients make for better recipes.
White Christmas Cupcakes with White Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups cake flour
- 1 2/3 cups superfine sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used Cabot)
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
White Chocolate Buttercream
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (I used Cabot)
- 11 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare 2 standard cupcake pans by lining with cupcake liners.
- In a mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients on low speed to blend. Add the soft butter and mix until evenly crumbly, like fine damp sand.
- Add the egg whites one at a time, then the whole egg, beating well after each addition to begin building the structure of the cake. Scrape down the sides and bottoms of the bowl after each addition/
- In a small bowl, whisk the milk with the vanilla extract. Add this mixture, 1/3 at a time, to the batter. Beat 1 to 2 minutes after each addition, until fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom after each addition in the bowl.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes. A toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center will come out clean when done. Remove from oven, remove from pan, and cool on a rack. Frost with white chocolate peppermint buttercream.
White Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream
- In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer at medium speed, cream butter until light and creamy. Beat in the melted white chocolate.
- Add the confectioners' sugar and peppermint extract and beat a low speed, scraping sides and bottom of bowl, until light and fluffy.
Recipe Notes
Frozen Salted Caramel White Russian from Blogghetti
Gingerbread Caramel Coffee Martini from Daily Dish Recipes
Gingerbread Cupcakes from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Rum Spiked Eggnog Cupcakes from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
This is the perfect Christmas dessert recipe! Delicious and super cute!
These cupcakes are absolutely adorable. I love the Christmas trees and the white frosting makes them stand out! Great recipe!
Those look absolutely adorable and so Christmasy 🙂 Thank you for sharing it!
What beautiful cupcakes! I love the Christmas trees on top – so fun!
Oh these cupcakes look absolutely incredible! I love the sound of that buttercream!
These are so adorable and whimsical!