Chocolate Reindeer Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes, chocolate buttercream, cute reindeer face made from pretzels, candy eyes, chocolate buttons and red fondant

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cupcake

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings

Calories 475kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the sponge

175 g Butter or baking spread unsalted, softened
175 g Caster sugar
3 Eggs large
1 tbsp Milk
150 g Self raising flour
25 g Cocoa powder
¼ tsp Baking powder

For the buttercream

150 g Butter unsalted, softened
255 g Icing sugar
45 g Cocoa powder
1 ½ tbsp Milk

For decoration

24 Pretzels
12 Red fondant circles or red sweets
12 Chocolate buttons
24 Candy eyes

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

If you are making the nose from fondant, do this first so they can dry and harden. Roll out your red fondant on a smooth surface dusted with icing sugar, and cut out circles using a 10mm round fondant plunger
Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line a cupcake tin with paper cases
To make the cupcakes, mix together the butter and caster sugar until smooth, ideally using an electric mixer
Add the eggs and milk, and whisk in
Add the self raising flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and whisk in gently
Divide the mixture between the cupcakes cases, and bake them for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Put them on a rack to cool completely
To make the buttercream, mix together the butter, cocoa powder and icing sugar with an electric mixer, when it starts to come together, add the milk and mix until smooth. You can add more milk if the buttercream is too stiff
Pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake using a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle, then smooth out the top with a palette knife. Or spread it on with a spoon
Stick the pretzels in the top for the reindeers antlers. (The pretzels will go a little soft from contact with the buttercream after a little while, so if you're making them in advance, wait to put the pretzels in to keep their crunch!)
Add the candy eyes, then add the chocolate button and stick the red fondant circle on top of the button using a little buttercream to make it stick
Store in an airtight container in a cool place, eat leftovers within 3 days

Video

Notes

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
I used baking spread for the cupcakes and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
For the reindeers antlers, you can use either a whole pretzel, chocolate matchmakers, or even melt some chocolate, pipe an antler shape onto some baking paper, let it set, then add it to the cupcake.
For the reindeer's eyes I used candy eyes, which are commonly available in most larger supermarkets and online. Instead, you could use some white fondant - roll it into a small ball and flatten it out a little. Then dip a cocktail stick into black food colouring and dot it into the middle of the fondant.
For the reindeer's nose I used some red fondant. You could also use a red sweet like a Smartie or Jelly Tot. Or you can get red sprinkles or chocoballs that would work too (Scrumptious Sprinkles do a large red choco ball that would work really well).
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition