Simple Christmas Cake

I originally saw this idea on cupcakes, and thought it was just awesome. So, I tried it.

But I don't like that much frosting, so I wanted to make it with a mini cupcake underneath to cut out some of the icing.

Then, I had a blank cake... was hosting a holiday get together... so I thought I would try it on a cake.

I like it. It was a big hit with the kids, who liked to point out that it was a "Christmas Tree Family: Daddy tree, Mommy tree  and Baby tree." The decorating didn't take terribly long... more on that later. But it really is a simple homemade Christmas cake that anyone can do with very few supplies necessary!

What You Need:
Cake
A Double Batch of Decorator's Icing
   -leave 3-4 cups white, color 2 cups green
Piping Bag
Tip #1M
Cupcake (removed from wrapper)
Mini Cupcake (removed from wrapper)
Sprinkles!!

This idea could work on just about any size and any shape cake. Start by icing your cake with white icing, and make it smooth. (Click the link for my complete tutorial on how to ice a cake smooth.)

Remove the cupcakes from their wrappers (or bake them without wrappers), and place the larger cupcake upside down on the surface of the cake, using a little dab of icing to "glue" it into place.
You may want to cut the top off of the cupcake if it is uneven or has a large dome on top. Your tree may lean a little (like mine does) if you don't.

Glue a mini cupcake on top of that. This is your tree base.

Using your green icing and Wilton Tip 1M, swirl around the cupcakes, just like you would if you were swirling a cupcake.

Complete the tree by finishing the swirl on the top. Always keep your bag straight up from the surface of the cake, and gently touching the side of the cupcake. (Click the link for how to make a cupcake swirl.)

I made my little "family" of trees by making one tree with the standard cupcake and mini cake. I made a smaller cake with just a mini cupcake - and the same technique to swirl it. And the "baby tree" was made with a smaller swirl directly on the cake.
For the stars on the top, I used Wilton Star Sprinkles.

Now, this is the annoyingly hard part. I expected that I could just drop the sprinkles on, like I usually do on my cupcakes, and easy-peasy decorations. Ummmmm... not so much. I had to individually place each sprinkle because there was so much icing, and the swirls just acted like little slides for the sprinkles to ride down. That's how the little "snowballs" ended up on the cake at first, but then I really liked them, so I added more. (Those are the Wilton White Pearl Sprinkles.)

To make the cupcakes, I placed the mini cupcake on top of the regular cupcake, and added the swirl, star and sprinkle decorations.

And yes, this is a lot of icing. We're talking 1/4-1/2 cup of icing per tree (on the cake or on a cupcake).

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