Day 5 – Paper Cup Christmas Cakes

On the fifth day of Christmas The Pink Whisk sent to me…..Individual paper cup christmas cakes! Perfect for a gift, for school fairs and all sorts x

I know we’ve made Christmas cakes already but these are so cute I couldn’t resist adding them in to the 12 days of Christmas.  As an alternative to baking in teeny tiny tins Christmas paper cups are just the thing.

1 x 8″ cake mix will make you 8 paper cup cakes – that’s lots of presents, or lots of ££’s made at the School Fair.

One of the Christmas cake kits the supermarkets are doing are just the thing – I tried out this one by Whitworths and it tastes lovely so comes with The Pink Whisk seal of approval.

They also do a Stollen Kit which is worth a try too – alternatively you can use my recipe to make Stollen from scratch here.

You will need:

1 x 8″ Christmas cake mix

8 x paper cups – don’t go for the foil covered cups, you want the paper cups with designs printed on them.  The £ shops are full to the brim with them at this time of year.

Baking paper

1 x pkt marzipan

1 x pkt white ready to roll icing

Once you have your cake mixture ready to go, prepare the cups.

You will need to line the cups with baking paper.  I have made a handy template for you –  Paper Cup Lining Template

To get the paper lining to stick to the outside of the cup lightly spray with an oil spray or grease lightly. Stand the cups in a deep cupcake pan to keep them steady and upright.

Divide the cake mixture between the cups and bake in the oven.  Depending on the temperature (I’d recommend 140c (fan)/150c/Gas Mark 2-3) they should take around one hour – one hour 15minutes but test them with a skewer and make sure it comes out clean.

Allow to cool fully before going any further.

Once cooled tip the cakes out of the cups, they should come out fairly easily.  Trim down the baking paper lining so it just comes to the tops of the cake.  It makes them look much neater and pop back into the cups.

Roll out the marzipan on your worksurface lightly dusted with icing sugar.

Cut out a circle using a round cutter just the right size to fit into the top of the cup.

Place on top of the cake.

Repeat with the ready to roll white icing, place on top of the marzipan and smooth it using your fingertips so that it sits evenly in the top of the cup.

I’m finishing them off with just an icing snowflake using the cutters here and a sliver ball for a touch of sparkle!

Now the boys come interfering – you do it like this Mum.

How many silver balls can you squish on a mini paper cup cake? hmmmm………

I’m making a present?  Who can I give it too?  (What’s the polite answer here?)

Once they’re professionally finished, or not, depending on who’s done them they can be wrapped up in a cellophane gift bag and tied with a ribbon.

Paper Cup Christmas Cakes

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire