Being a mother who enjoys baking, I love to contribute in my kids school parties. Every one of them. Most of the time I make cake pops because kids are really amazed about them. The morning they see I bring in a box of cake pops, the thrill on their faces simply makes my day! And the moment my kid tells the whole class, “My mom made them!”, although I am not there to witness it, I know how proud of their mama they are!

This Christmas I had to aim at something quick and impressive because of my tight schedule for the cookie gift box orders. I’m still thinking if I should give the cake pops a break considered they are quite time consuming to make, but right now one of my ideas is these mini Christmas wreath cupcakes.

Aren’t they adorable? And they are literally failure-proof to make. I promise!

Ingredients (24 mini cupcakes):
Vanilla Cake
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Whipped Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
2 sticks unsalted butter, soften
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 drop of red food colouring paste
1 to 2 drops of green food colouring paste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin tin or line with muffin liners.
In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix eggs and sugar until well combined. Gradually add oil and vanilla, mix until just blended.
With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the buttermilk, mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely.
To prepare the frosting, beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract and cream. Then beat for another 5 to 8 minutes until light and fluffy.
Reserve 1/4 cup frosting and tint it with red colouring. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a very small round tip.
Reserve 1/2 cup frosting and tint it with green colouring. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip.
Smear the white frosting on top of each cupcake. Pipe small green stars around the edges. Then pipe small red dots on top of each star. Finish with a red small bow.