Hello lovelies,
I think we have all gathered by now that I absolutely love my spices. Ginger, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice and everything in between so when I saw that there was a thing as ‘festive spice’ you know I had to make it and try it for myself.
Have you ever heard of festive spice before today’s post? As I’d never heard of it before a couple of weeks ago.
I love that the festive spice is made up of so many of my favourite spices and has orange zest. After making these, I can quite honestly say I’m obsessed and will most likely be flavouring every sweet treat with festive spice from here on out haha.
I paired today’s festive spice cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and it’s a combination that is perfect.
Talking of buttercream. I actually trialled something new today with my buttercream. Back a few months ago I done a baking class which taught me how to make my buttercream different colours when piping onto a cake. Now, I’ve only ever tried this with two colours but today, I thought I’d try three and BOY am I glad I did.
These really are the most festive cupcakes and are super duper easy to make. Want to make festive spice yourself? Want to do three toned icing yourself? Want to make the best buttercream yourself? Well look no further, today I’m sharing all my recipes with you.
Category: Sweet Treats
Serves: 12
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 10-12 Minutes
Cooling Time: 1 Hour
Decorating Time: 20-25 Minutes
Overall Time: 1Hour 50Minutes
Ingredients You Need For Cakes:
- 8oz Of Butter / Margarine
- 8oz Of Caster Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs, Beaten
- 8oz Of Self-Raising Flour
Ingredients For Festive Spice:
- 1tsp Of Ground Cinnamon
- 1tsp Of Ground Ginger
- 2tsp Of Nutmeg
- 2tsp Of Light Brown Sugar
- Zest Of One Orange
Ingredients For Buttercream:
- 100g Of Unsalted Butter
- 200g Of Icing Sugar
- 2tsp Of Vanilla Extract
- Red & Green Food Colouring
- Chocolate Dachshund From M&S
How To Make Cupcakes:
- Firstly, gather together your equipment and ingredients, line a 12 hole cupcake tin with festive Christmas cupcake cases and preheat the oven to 180C / 160C Fan / Gas Mark 4.
- Secondly, in a large bowl, cream together 8oz of butter and 4oz of caster sugar until lighter in colour and fluffy in texture.
- Next, mix in your 4 beaten eggs.
- In another large bowl, add the 12oz of self-raising flour, 1tsp of ground cinnamon, 1tsp of ground ginger, 2tsp of nutmeg, 2tsp of light brown sugar and zest of one orange.
- Then, a little at a time, mix in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until incorporated.
- Now that your cupcake mixture is complete, using a icecream scoop or table spoon, spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases.
- Place the cupcakes into the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer placed into the centre comes out clean.
- Once baked, take out the oven and leave in the cupcake tin to cool a little before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.
How To Decorate Your Cupcakes:
- When your cupcakes have cooled down completely, it’s time to decorate.
- In a large bowl, add 200g of unsalted butter and beat the butter until lighter in colour.
- Next, a little at a time, mix the 400g of icing sugar into the butter.
- When the buttercream has come together, mix in 2tsp of vanilla extract.
- Separate the buttercream between 3 bowls, adding red food colouring to one bowl, green food colouring to a second bowl and leave the third bowl colour free.
- Once you’ve got your buttercream coloured, place a nozzle into piping bag.
- To get your multi coloured buttercream swirl, add a dollop of red, dollop of green and dollop of white buttercream into the piping bag, trying to get the dollops side by size of each other. (TIP: Make sure you squeeze the air out the piping bag before piping onto the cake otherwise it will skip whilst piping).
- Before piping, do a test pipe on a piece of paper to make sure all three colours are present whilst piping.
- Pipe the buttercream onto your cupcakes.
- Finally, top with a festive dachshund chocolate.
Are these not just the most festive cupcakes? I’m proper chuffed with the outcome!
This is my full-proof cupcake and buttercream recipe – it never does me wrong.
Of course, if festive spice isn’t for you, you can make the cupcakes plain (adding a dash of vanilla extract is super yummy) or if you still want something a little festive, use ground ginger in your cakes.
Let me know in the comments below if you end up making these cupcakes yourself and if you do, what your thoughts were on them.
Sending you all tons of love and hugs as always,
Elle xo
These look and sounds really lovely. I love all the christmas themed food. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Author
I just love Christmas baking, it’s one of my favourite times of year for baking! These are honestly delicious. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
Thank you for sharing lovely x
I didn’t expect the recipe to have ground ginger in them or the zest of an orange. I also didn’t know festive spice was a thing. Not normally a fan of orange flavours in my deserts or sweets, but I guess I won’t know if I like it until I try it. Thanks for the recipe
Author
I’d honestly never heard of festive spice till this year, it’s absolutely delicious! It’s defiantly worth trying if your wanting to as it isn’t a overpowering taste of orange, it’s very subtle flavour. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These are gorgeous! It’s less intimidating to nibble a cupcake than get out a plate and knife to slice a piece of cake. I’m going to try them, thanks!
Author
You’ve got to love a cupcake at Christmas, I make some kind of festive cupcake every year without fail! They are honestly delicious. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These look absolutely amazing, especially with the adorable dog on the top! I love the buttercream colours 🙂 x
Author
It’s so cute isn’t it? M&S are doing some amazing dachshund themed food bits this year. The buttercream is my favourite, it came out exactly how I’d hoped. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These are so sweet – not only do they look the part but they sound like they taste amaaazing!!
Rosie
Author
They are honestly delicious, they are a festive dream. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
As usual Elle these look incredible, I also love spices when baking so I’ll definitely need to try these! What a cute additional of the chocolate dogs on top for decor!
Author
Oh I do love a good spice and festive spice is up there with one of my favourites. So easy to make and tastes delicious! The chocolate dachshund are so cute aren’t they? Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These look absolutely amazing! I hadn’t heard of festive spice either haha, but I’d love to give these a try – they look delicious! Thank you so much for sharing, I can’t wait to try these x
Author
Honestly I never knew it was a thing until this year! It’s honestly delicious, really is a festive dream. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
I haven’t heard of festive spice but these cupcakes do look so tasty! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Author
I hadn’t heard myself until this year but honestly, it’s delish! Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These look so tasty. I’m not a fan of spiced things but could definitely make some plain ones.
Author
Yes defiantly, you could just do vanilla cupcakes which will taste just as yummy! Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These look so lovely, I wish I was good at baking! I have the smallest kitchen and make a huge mess haha x
Author
Ahaha I have quite a small kitchen and always manage to make such a mess! You honestly don’t have to be a ‘pro’ at baking to bake these, they are so easy to make. I’m sure your much better than you think lovely! Thank you so much for commenting Xo
Oh wow!!!!!!!! These cupcakes look so yummy-licious. You make me wanna try them. Thank you for sharing.
Author
They are honestly delicious! Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These cupcakes look too good! I have tried to make good looking cupcakes but it’s just isn’t in me 🙁 although I am good with decorating birthday cakes. weird 🙂 but I will try again with these tips!
Author
I’m sure it’s in you, I bet you done much better than you think! Honestly, I was rubbish at buttercream this time last year but with practice I’ve grown to be okay at buttercream now ahah. I hope my tips are helpful. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
Love that there’s some orange flavour in this – such a festive flavour! I love the look of these, they really do look incredible and like they belong in a cafe counter. The dogs on top make them for me!
Author
It’s a proper festive flavouring isn’t it! Wow that means the world, thank you so much. The dachshund chocolates are so cute aren’t they? Thank you so much for commenting Xo
You had me at the dog chocolates, but the ingredients look like a perfect Christmas match as well! Orange is perfect this season.
Author
They are SO cute aren’t they? These really are a festive dream – perfect for this season. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These look amazing Elle! I love the double colours of frosting which give it a candy cane type of appearance! Thanks for sharing.
Author
Ah the candy cane look is what I was aiming for, I’m so pleased my imagination has come to life! Thank you so much for commenting Xo
I love all things spiced — and this recipe sounds great. I love the festive flavours at this time of year, perfect for a tasty treat with a cup of coffee!
Author
I just love spices, I can’t get enough of them, especially around this time of year! These are the perfect cupcakes to eat this festive season with a cup of tea or coffee. Thank you so much for commenting Xo
These cupcakes look stunning! 😍 I’m not sure I could eat them as they look so cute.
I haven’t heard of festive spice. I am a huge fan of vanilla buttercream, though. The buttercream with different colours looks amazing.
Thank you for sharing clear instructions on how to do the icing. I’ve never considered making the buttercream icing a different colour, let alone three! I don’t think I could get the swirl as perfectly as you did, but I really want to give this recipe a go.
I’ll be on the search for those Chocolate Dachshunds from M&S.
Thank you for sharing! 😊
Author
Festive spice is honestly delicious, if your a fan of spices, you’ll love it. Vanilla buttercream is my favourite too! I’m so so pleased my instructions came out clear and I hope they’re easy to follow. I bet you’d do amazing, buttercream gets so much easier the more you practice. You’ll have to let me know if you end up making these, I’d love to see a pic! The chocolate dachshund are so cute aren’t they. Thank you so much for commenting Xo