Christmas Holly Cupcakes

While my friend crafts till the crack of dawn, I was busy baking for the IBMer's for their Christmas get together till the crack of dawn. No doubt, I was sleep deprived in the morning but I was proud of my creation this year. Vanilla Cupcakes with Holly 'n Berry Toppers.

Ingredients:

Flour - 1 1/2 cups

Butter - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2/3 cup

Baking Powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Eggs - 3

Milk - 1/4 cup

Zest of One Lime

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Royal Icing:

Icing Sugar - 450gms

Meringue Powder - 3tbs

Water - 5-6 tbs depending on the consistency (I used about alot more tablespoons of water to make the runny consistency to cover the cupcakes)

Preheat oven to 160 C and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl whisk together the lemon zest, flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 17 - 20 minutes or just until set and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. (Always check a few minutes before the stated baking time. Do not over bake or the cupcakes will be dry.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. 

To make the holly leaves, I used the Wilton Gumpaste Mix and tinted half with Wilton Christmas Red and the other half with Wilton Leaf Green.

Using the rose leaf cutter, cut the required number of leaves and using the veining tool made the veins. I used the following Video as a guide.