grandma's christmas cupcakes

Ingredients

• Servings: 16
• 9 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup superfine sugar
• 4 drops almond extract, or more to taste
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 3/4 cups ground almonds
• round cookie or biscuit cutter
• small holly leaf-shaped cutter
• 1 pound ready-to-use white fondant, divided
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, or as needed
• 2 drops green food coloring, or as desired
• 1 drop red food coloring, or as needed

Recipe

Cook Time: 20 mins Ready Time: 1 hr 50 mins


• preheat oven to 350 degrees f (175 degrees c). line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.
• beat the butter, sugar, and almond extract in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the self-rising flour. gently fold the ground almonds into the batter; spoon batter into the prepared cupcake cups, filling them about halfway.
• bake the cupcakes until they have risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
• to decorate, knead the fondant until pliable; set aside about 1/3 of the fondant. roll out the larger portion of the fondant on a work surface dusted generously with confectioners' sugar. using a round cookie or biscuit cutter the same size as the cupcake tops, cut out circles of the fondant; place a fondant circle on each cupcake. press the fondant down lightly.
• divide the remaining fondant into four even portions; place 3 portions into a bowl and the other into a second small bowl. tint the larger portion to your desired shade of green with the green food coloring. tint the smaller portion to your desired shade of red food coloring.
• roll out the green fondant on a work surface generously dusted with confectioners' sugar and cut out 32 holly leaves with leaf-shaped cutter. use your finger to rub away any white confectioners' sugar on the green leaves and arrange 2 leaves on each cupcake. roll red fondant into 48 small red berries and place 3 berries on the leaves of each cupcake.