Poinsettia Christmas Cupcakes Vegan Food

POINSETTIA CHRISTMAS CUPCAKES (VEGAN)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a muffin tin with 12 patty cases, and a second tin with 2 patty cases.
• In a small bowl combine white vinegar and dairy-free milk. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and spices.
• In a large bowl, whisk together canola oil, brown sugar, golden syrup and vanilla until combined. Add a bit of the milk mixture and whisk until combined.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the oil and sugar mixture, alternating with the rest of the milk until cupcake batter comes together, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
• Spoon mixture into patty cases ensuring they are only 1/2 full before placing them in the oven for 18 minutes or until lightly springy to touch. Let cool completely before frosting.
• Make the buttercream frosting. Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment fitted, beat dairy-free butter and vanilla for 1-2 minutes until creamy. Add in 3 cups of icing sugar and beat on medium until combined. As mixture thickens, add in the dairy-free milk a little at a time until the mixture is smooth and creamy but still thick enough to stand up on its own.
• Separate out some of the buttercream into a smaller bowl and add a few drops of green gel food colouring until the desired colour is reached. To the rest of the buttercream add red colouring.
• Decorate the cupcakes. Add the green food colouring to a piping bag with a leaf tip (such as a #66 or #70) attached and pipe 3x leaves onto each cupcake. Use the same tip in another piping bag with the red buttercream and pipe leaves around the edge of the cupcake, followed by more around the inner circle so you have 2 layers of overlapping leaves. Add a few chocolate jimmy's to the centre and optional gold sprinkle for festive flair.

POINSETTIAS CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Combine the butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a handheld electric mixer). Mix on low speed until mostly incorporated. Add the vanilla; increase the speed to medium-high and mix until smooth. Adjust the consistency with milk as desired. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature and mix on medium-high until smooth.
• Put 1/3 of the frosting into a medium bowl and the remaining 2/3 into a second bowl. Color the smaller amount of frosting with the green food coloring and stir to combine. Color the larger amount of frosting with 5 to 10 drops of red food coloring - until a dark red color is achieved. Transfer the green buttercream to a disposable piping bag fitted with a #63 leaf piping tip. Transfer the red buttercream to a disposable piping bag fitted with a #366 leaf piping tip.
• Pipe a dollop of red buttercream on the tops of each cupcake and smooth with a small offset spatula to cover the tops.
• Pipe red buttercream on top of each cupcake creating petals in a star shape. Pipe a second star shape pattern on top of the first but offset the points so they are in between the first layer of petals. Pipe the green frosting with the flat side of the piping tip facing towards the cupcake and make leaves in between each of the bottom layer of petals. Pipe a cross shape with the red frosting in the center of the flowers. Sprinkle the centers with silver dragees.