These Festive Friends Mini Cupcakes are all about capturing the magic of Christmas in a bite-sized treat. The soft and fluffy sponge is flavoured with warm cinnamon and fragrant vanilla, it’s topped with a dreamy swirl of white chocolate cream cheese frosting that looks like freshly fallen snow. Snowflake sprinkles and a Milkybar Festive Friend bring a jolly decorative finish to these adorable cupcakes!
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan / 180°C conventional and line a mini cupcake baking tin with 24 mini cases (or bake in two batches of 12).
Cream the baking spread, caster sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined (it helps to add a tablespoon of the flour to stop the mixture from curdling).
Add the rest of the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and milk and fold to combine.
Divide the mixture evenly between the cases, filling each one just over halfway. Bake for 12-15 minutes until risen and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Make the white chocolate frosting:
First whisk the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Set aside.
Place the wrapped Milkybar in a baking dish or container. Pour boiling water on top until the bar is fully submerged and leave to melt (takes a couple of minutes).
Snip off the corner of the wrapper and squeeze the melted MILKYBAR into the bowl of cream cheese, then whisk to combine. Be careful not to overmix otherwise the frosting will loosen too much. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
Decorate the cupcakes:
Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe swirls of frosting on top of the mini cupcakes, starting from the middle and spiralling outwards.
Finish by decorating with snowflake sprinkles and place the Milkybar Festive Friends on top.