So it’s torrential outside but dams and water tanks are filling up so it’s a good thing.
Post Christmas will be full of grass that needs mowing and potholes – yay!
A friend and I made these easy cupcakes the other day with our kids and I had as much fun making them as the kids did. Instructions after the jump!
Christmas wreath cupcake. Photograph by Amor Sexton
Holly Cupcake. Photograph by Amor Sexton
Reindeer Games cupcake. Photograph by Amor Sexton
I thought they could be great rainy-day-play activity to keep your kids/husband/boyfriend/international guests occupied while you cook, clean, wrap or sleep.
I just buy Greens Vanilla Cake Mix which is only a few dollars and comes with icing mix… as lets face it, it’s not really about the cake, is it?
Cake mix tends to be a dollar or so cheaper and I find you can make more cupcakes with it. Just remember to pick up some cupcake patty cases as I ran out and we had to use happy birthday ones.
Method:
Bake cakes as per packet directions, add some orange zest and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a more festive tasting cupcake.
The Christmas Wreath and Holly designs come from a great cupcake book by the Australian Women’s Weekly called Easy Cupcakes by Colour. Once the cakes have been iced with vanilla icing, cut mint leaf lollies in half sideways through the lolly so you end up with two leaves and decorate in a circle around the circumference of the cake. Start at the top and work in one direction to get the layered effect of the wreath.
The berries are jaffas for the holly leaf or a red jube cut in half for the holly berry. Jubes and Jaffas are interchangeable depending on your taste.
The cute Reindeer Games design is one that my friend Amor and I came up with. The antlers are a strap of licorice cut down to size and then spliced 3/4 of the way through the middle so that it curls outwards.
The ears are a block of mint Aero bar cut through the middle and down to size.
Jaffa for the nose and star shaped sprinkles for the eyes. The star shaped sprinkles were picked up at Aldi, but you could use silver cachous or mini M&M’s.
Enjoy!
Eclectic Kate 