Easy Reindeer Cupcakes to Cook with Toddlers
It really gives me great pleasure to bring you day 6 of the Creative Christmas Countdown with a post about Creating Traditions with Grandparents or other family members with your kids.
One of the main things about Christmas for us is spending time with family and this is especially the grandparents – and from my own childhood one of the traditions that I remember is time spent in the kitchen with my Nana and Nanny. My brother, grandmothers and I would shut the door to the kitchen and bake the day away making cakes, mince pies (fruit mince), Christmas pudding and stirring the Christmas cake, all in the lead up to Christmas.
Now I have children of my own this is something we’ve already started. Rainy Day Dad and myself went shopping today and J and T spent the day with my parents creating Christmas traditions of their own in the kitchen making Reindeer Cup Cakes.
What you need to make Reindeer Cupcakes
Baking Equipment
125g butter
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs
125g self-raising flour, sifted
Decoration
Chocolate Butter Icing or Ready Made Chocolate Frosting
Mini Smarties (Sugar Coated Candy)
Large/normal sized Smarties (Sugar Coated Candy) or Glace Cherry for the nose
Mini Pretzels/Twiglets for the antlers
How you make Reindeer Cupcakes
Prepare for baking with your child – J is a toddler so this means covering everything in site that could be damaged with the wipe clean plastic, him in his apron (it’s getting easier to cook with him the more that we do which is good).
To make the fairy cake for the reindeer cakes, cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl and then add the vanilla essence, beat the eggs and then add to the creamed sugar and butter adding a spoonful of flour between each. Mix in the rest of the flour and then add a little milk as needed.
J and Nana divided the mixture between different cupcake cases and as you can see J also decorated another cupcake case with the mixture and the table!
They are then put in the oven at 200°C (Electric oven | Electric fan oven 180°C | Gas Mark 6) for 10 – 20 minutes until cooked and golden on top. J loves to tell you “Remember Oven’s are hot” when we cook.
Pops and J decorated the cupcakes – although I suspect that J ate more of the smarties than actually added them to the decoration. First using the chocolate butter cream or frosting cover the top of the fairy cake. Then put in two twiglets for antlers at the top, for the eyes two mini smarties of the same colour are used. The nose can be made either with half a glace cherry or a normal sized smarties. Once the nose, antlers and eyes are on the cakes are ready to eat – and they are delicious.
Reindeer Cupcakes
Ingredients
Fairy Cake Recipe Ingredients
- 125 g Butter
- 125 g Caster Sugar (Superfine Sugar)
- ½ tsp Vanilla Essence
- 2 Large Eggs
- 125 g Self-raising Flour sifted
- 2 tbsp Milk
To Decorate
- Chocolate Butter Icing or Ready Made Chocolate Frosting
- Mini Smarties Sugar Coated Candy
- Regular sized Smarties Sugar Coated Candy or Glace Cherry for the nose
- Mini Pretzels/Twiglets for the antlers
Instructions
- To make the fairy cakes:Preheat the oven to 200c (180c for fan assisted). Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl and add the vanilla essence.
- Beat the eggs and then fold into the creamed sugar and butter. Sieve the flour and mix it in a spoonful at a time, stirring carefully.
- Divide evenly into cupcake cases and place in the oven for 10 – 20 minutes until cooked and golden on top.
- To decorate: First cover the cupcakes with chocolate buttercream or frosting, then put in two Twiglets or pretzels for antlers at the top, two mini Smarties for eyes and either half a glace cherry or regular sized Smarties for a nose.
Fun with the grandparents doesn’t have to be just in the kitchen, you could organise a craft, go for a day out, play something special even read a specific book each year to create a family tradition.
Tomorrow on the Creative Countdown to Christmas is with The Imagination Tree
we make reindeer cupcakes every year – need to start letting the grandma’s in on some of the fun! Most of our traditions take place with me. I know they would LOVE the opportunity.
So cute. I so wish we had grandparents around. We live thousands of miles away and this year we will not see them at all. I am thinking we need to start a tradition of either doing something over the internet together or exchanging christmas carols over the phone.
Every other year my parents spend Christmas in Calafornia and us in the UK so we use the playstation and computer and play games and chat on video with them in our evening their mid-day as we would on a Christmas Day when they were with us.
What a fun time was had. I wish I had these kinds of memories with my grandma, but she was probably too worried about the mess to let us kids in the kitchen. My kids love to help me though. I need to invite grandma over to join in. Thanks for such a great idea and post.
Ahh, what a lovely post. We make our Christmas cake using our secret family recipe – which is being passed down to the fourth generation now. Your cupcakes are cute!
We have a similar christmas cake and christmas pudding recipes that are passed down as well. I love that we always used to stir the christmas cake and pudding whilst making a wish.
I love this post 🙂 I have such good memories of baking with my grandmother. She knew just how to make me feel important. You’ve got a lucky kiddo!
He loves spending time with them and she’s a crafty Nana as well. The day before she was helping him make Salt Dough Decorations.