How sweet are these? I say VERY! A chocolate and vanilla marble cupcake, with green-tinted cream cheese buttercream, topped with an adorable Hershey’s Kiss and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Christmas tree!!
If you have kids – get them involved in this project for sure!
This recipe makes about 12 cupcakes. You will also need 12 Hershey’s kisses, and 12 mini peanut butter cups.
Chocolate/vanilla marble cupcake recipe:
Ingredients:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 c granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 2 c all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 c buttermilk
To make the chocolate batter, you will need to add:
- 1/3 c cocoa powder
- 1/4 c buttermilk
Cream cheese buttercream recipe:
Ingredients:
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temp
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 4 c powdered sugar
- green paste food coloring
- nonpareil sprinkles, and tiny stars for garnish
Start with the cupcakes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 12 cupcake size pan with paper liners (I like the 1/4″ taller liners, so if you use regular size liners, you may get more than 12 cupcakes.
Combine flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt in a med bowl. Whisk briefly with a hand whisk, and set aside.
In a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites while slowly adding the sugar. Beat on high for 3-4 min, until white and foamy.
Lower speed to med, and add oil slowly, then vanilla.
Add flour mixture slowly, alternating with buttermilk – with mixer on low. Beat just til well-blended.
Remove 1/2 of the batter to a med bowl. (This will be your vanilla batter).
Add the cocoa powder, and 1/4 buttermilk, to the remaining batter in the mixer bowl. Combine on med just til blended. This is your chocolate batter.
Fill cupcake liners with 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 chocolate batters, side by side. I used 2 med ice cream scoops – 1 with vanilla batter, and 1 with chocolate batter – and poured them at the same time to fill each liner just 3/4 full. Swirl gently using a toothpick.
Bake for 18-22 min, til toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool completely.
Prepare cream cheese buttercream.
Whip together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a stand mixing bowl, using a paddle attachment. Whip til creamy and smooth. Add powdered sugar 1 c at a time, blending well between additions. Add desired food coloring, and whip for about 30 seconds til smooth.
Prepare the Christmas trees:
Place the nonpareil sprinkles in a small bowl. Unwrap the kisses and peanut butter cups. Add some of the buttercream to a 12″ piping bag, and a small, round tip. “Glue” together a peanut butter cup, turned upside down, and a Hershey’s kiss – using a very small dab of the butter cream. Then swirl a thin line of the buttercream around the “tree”, from the bottom up. Place immediately into the bowl of sprinkles, and turn to coat. If you get excess sprinkles where you don’t want them, just remove them using a toothpick. Top with a tiny dab off buttercream at the top, followed by a tiny candy star.
Chill to set, for about 15 min.
Frost the cupcakes, using the rest of the green buttercream. Use a large piping bag, and a 1M open star tip. Decorate each cupcake with a “rose” design, swirling from the center, in a gentle circle, ending on the edge. Using a small offset spatula, or a butter knife, spread just the top surface smooth, leaving the ruffled edges intact.
Place 1 Christmas tree in the center of each frosted cupcake. Top with a few more sprinkles if you like!
