Cake Decorating How-To: Buttercream Christmas Trees

Today's cupcake tutorial is quite possibly one of the easiest Christmas decorations ever - a buttercream Christmas tree!  I promise your guests will "ooo and aaaaah" when they see your tiny masterpieces, and kids (of all ages) will love the generous helping of frosting on each cupcake.  They'd also look great paired with the buttercream wreaths I posted earlier this month.  They even use the same colors, which will make your life easy too.  :)  To make these cupcakes, you'll need:

Baked Cupcakes 

Buttercream Icing (white and green)

1 piping bag with a standard coupler

A medium open star tip

Sprinkles (round preferably!)

Once your cupcakes cool, spread a thin layer of white icing across their tops.

Mix and fill your piping bag with green icing (see this blog about coloring icing).  Using the open star tip, pipe two circles on top of each other (bottom a little larger than the top) - think soft-serve ice cream for the swirl shape!  This will be the "inside" your your tree.

With the same tip, make your ice cream swoop around the "inside tree" you previously made.

Now "decorate" your tree with sprinkles!  Make sure to give them a soft tap so they stay on the tree.

See?  I told you they were simple!