Christmas Vanilla Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue

Sometimes you just need a simple recipe to kick start the Christmas vibes. This couldn’t be simpler but it is a WHOLE HEAP of Christmas fun for you to have with the kids (or you know, yourself).

They are also a fabulous idea to leave for Santa Clause too…

Ingredients for cake

• 180g Flora Butter

• 140g Caster Sugar

• 160g Self-Raising Flour

• 2 tbsp Vanilla Extract

• 3 Burford Brown Eggs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line a cupcake tin

2. Beat your butter (make sure it’s room temperature) and your sugar together until lovely and light and fluffy.

3. Add in your Vanilla Extract and your Eggs and continue to beat.

4. Once all combined, fold in your flour but don’t over mix.

5. Fill your cupcake cases until 2/3 full and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Leave to cool before decorating.

Ingredients for Swiss Meringue

1. 6 egg whites (I use the Clarence Court egg whites from Waitrose)

2. 300g granulated sugar

3. 300g unsalted vegan butter, softened but not too warm (should be cool to touch)

4. 1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method

1. In a glass bowl, place over a small amount of boiling water but don’t let the glass touch the water. Pour in your egg whites with your sugar and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. If you use your finger and thumb to rub some of the liquid together, if you can feel any granulated sugar then it’s not ready yet.

2. Pour your mix straight into a stand mixer and put immediately on to a medium - fast speed This can take up to 15 minutes and will become very thick and glossy.

3. Switch the stand mixer to the paddle attachment and place in your butter 1 tbsp at a time, slowly and beat on a very high speed. Keep going with this as your meringue will look a bit wet but then it’ll stiffen up the more butter you put in. You must put this on a high speed and you can stop and start to give your mixer a break.

4. Add in your vanilla extract after all your butter has been combined and give one last whizz and then your buttercream will be ready.

5. Decorate your cupcakes with your Swiss meringue and place some thyme and rosemary on top to create ‘Christmas Trees’