The Broken Scale · Good food. Plenty of personality.
Christmas Light Cupcakes
Chocolate cupcakes become holiday lights with fluffy cream-cheese frosting, dark gel icing, and colorful mini candies. Start with cake mix and decorate only after the cakes are completely cool.
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- 20 minutes
- Cooling
- 45 minutes
- Total
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Serves
- 18 cupcakes (approximately)
Cool fully before frosting
Warm cupcakes can melt the whipped frosting. Let the cakes cool completely, keep the frosting chilled, and refrigerate the decorated cupcakes until serving.
Adapted from Rian Handler at Delish.
The full recipe
Christmas Light Cupcakes
Chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream-cheese frosting, decorated with a line of gel icing and mini candies to look like holiday lights.
Ingredients
- 15 oz Devils Food Cake Mix one box, plus eggs, oil, and water or other ingredients required by its label
1½ cups Heavy Cream cold- 8 oz Cream Cheese one block, softened
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
- Black Decorating Gel as needed for the light strings
- Mini M&M’s as needed for decorating
Instructions
- Line muffin pans with about 18 paper liners. Heat the oven and prepare cake batter according to the mix package, including all required additional ingredients. Divide batter among liners, following the package fill level; use extra liners if needed rather than overfilling.
- Bake at the package temperature, typically 350°F, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18–20 minutes or as the label directs. Cool briefly in the pans, then transfer to a rack and cool completely before frosting.
- Using a chilled bowl and whisk attachment or hand mixer, beat the cold heavy cream until it holds stiff peaks. Stop before it becomes grainy. Keep chilled while preparing the cream-cheese mixture.
- In a separate bowl, beat softened cream cheese, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth and fluffy, scraping down the bowl. Gently fold in whipped cream until evenly combined. Keep the frosting refrigerated if the cupcakes are not yet cool.
- Pipe frosting onto completely cooled cupcakes. Draw a thin looping line with black decorating gel, then press mini M&M’s along the line as lights. Refrigerate the finished cupcakes in a covered container until serving.
Notes
Yield and bake time depend on the cake mix and liner size. The 90-minute total is an estimate that includes cooling. This whipped cream and cream-cheese frosting requires refrigeration at 40°F or below. Limit time out of refrigeration to 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F. Add candy decorations close to serving if their colors bleed during storage.