Christmas / 12 December, 2025 / Ellie Thompson

Annabel Karmel’s Cranberry & Orange Christmas Cupcakes

With excitement running high and routines all over the place, baking is a brilliant way to channel festive energy into something productive. And these Christmas cupcakes not only look the part, they taste like Christmas too! Pop in a box and tie with some ribbon, and you have the perfect gift for family and friends.

MAKES: 12 CHRISTMAS CUPCAKES

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 2 eggs
• 150g butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp orange extract
• 50g cranberries, chopped

Icing

• 75g butter softened
• 150g icing sugar
• ½ tsp orange extract

Decoration

• 200g red fondant icing (or use white fondant and red food colouring)
• 300g white fondant icing
• 200g blue fondant icing (or use white fondant and blue food colouring)
• 50g orange fondant (or use white fondant and orange food colouring)
• Cake décor edible eyes
• White icing pens

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C Fan. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases.

Measure the eggs, butter, caster sugar, flour, baking powder, milk and orange extract into a mixing bowl.

Whisk until light and fluffy. Add the cranberries and stir through.

Spoon into the paper cases.

Bake for 20 minutes until light golden brown and well risen. Leave to cool.

If you don’t have coloured fondant, knead the food colouring into white fondant icing according to the amounts on the ingredients list.

Roll out some white fondant and cut out circles the same size as the cupcake. Cut these in half and place on the bottom half of the cupcakes.

Snowmen Cupcakes

Roll out blue icing for the hat, cut out circles using a round cutter and cut in half. Place on the top half of the cupcake.

Add a trim to the hat and a small round bobble from the white icing.

Form a small amount of orange fondant for the nose and add edible eyes – you can stick these on using a blob of writing icing.

Father Christmas Cupakes

Add a crescent of red icing for the hat

Add a white trim to the hat made from white fondant icing.

Add a moustache made from white icing and a mouth and nose made from red icing.

Add a small round white bobble for the hat.

Finally stick on edible eyes using a little writing icing.

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