The Grinch Cupcakes for Christmas
Home » COOK » Recipes » Holiday Recipes » Christmas »If you’re a fan of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, then you simply must make a batch of The Grinch Cupcakes for Christmas!
Chocolate cupcakes are topped with green frosting, and of course a red heart. These cupcakes would be awesome for a Grinch-themed party or movie night!
I’ve got lots of fun and easy Cupcake Recipes for Parties and celebrations (and for everyday treats!) for you to try out – right-click and open these other recipes in a new tab so that you can read them after this one!
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The Grinch Cupcakes
And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say, That the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!
Whether you are a fan of the book, of the animation, or the live-action movie, if you love The Grinch, you will love these cupcakes!
They are so cute to make and serve at Christmas or for a Grinch-themed party.
Ingredients used in this recipe
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, but here is a brief outline so you know what to expect from the recipe. I highly recommend always reading a recipe all the way through before starting.
- Usual cupcake and frosting ingredients: flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, powdered sugar, etc.
- For the royal icing:
- egg whites
- powdered sugar
- cream of tartar
- red gel food coloring
Equipment used in this recipe
You are likely to have many of these cooking tools in your kitchen already, but I’ve added some Amazon links for your convenience should you need to purchase anything for this recipe.
- Measuring Cups, Measuring Spoons
- Mixing Bowls, Mixing Spoon
- Sieve/Sifter
- Cupcake Pan, Cupcake Liners
- Piping Bags
- Small Round Piping Tip
- Cookie Sheet & Wax Paper – for piping the red hearts
- Electric Mixer
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The Grinch Cupcakes Recipe Tips
Making the cupcakes
- Use green cupcake liners to make the cupcakes look even more Grinch-y!
- Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, etc.) to add air and lightness to your cakes.
- These cupcakes are made by the creaming method which is a classic way of making cakes.
- Butter and sugar are beaten till light and fluffy, then the eggs are beaten in one at a time before alternating dry and wet ingredients.
- Use an ice cream scoop to help divide the cupcake batter evenly between the liners – fill them three-quarters full.
- To check that the cupcakes are cooked through, insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake and it should come out clean.
- Leave cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
Making & Using Frosting
- Butter and powdered sugar are beaten together until light and creamy.
- The recipe uses up to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream (double cream in the UK) to adjust the consistency.
- The frosting needs to hold a stiff peak for piping onto cupcakes.
- Test this by taking a spoonful of frosting and turning the spoon upside down. If the frosting stays on the spoon it is ready.
- Add more powdered sugar – a little at a time, beating in well.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and frost the cupcakes from the outside edge to the center.
- Flatten off the top of the frosting when piping, rather than creating the usual peak.
Making & Using Royal Icing
- The red hearts are made with royal icing.
- This is a hard icing that is made with egg whites (or egg white powder) and powdered (icing) sugar.
- Some recipes call for glycerine (this keeps the icing softer), or cream of tartar (this stabilizes the egg whites), or lemon juice.
- In the UK you can by Royal Icing Sugar which you can just mix with water. If you can buy this it makes things a whole lot easier! You can buy it ready-made in tubs too, which you are more than welcome to do!
- Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the icing. You want to form stiff peaks.
- When the icing is made add red gel food coloring.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with red icing.
- Line a cookie sheet with wax paper.
- Pipe small red hearts and leave to dry for 5-10 hours.
- You can always draw hearts on the reverse of the wax paper with a pencil and then pipe over if you can’t freehand.
- Cut the paper into squares when the icing is dry and carefully peel away from the hearts.
- Place on the green frosting.
Food Coloring
- Food coloring is available in various forms. You’re most likely to find liquid coloring in your grocery store, and other types of coloring like gels, pastes, and powders in more specialised cake decorating shops.
- The cheapest option is liquids, but they can alter the consistency of your icing, frosting and cake batter, so I prefer to use pastes or gels which doesn’t.
- A little goes a long way with food coloring gels and you can usually get a much deeper shade than you would with liquids.
- Remember that you can always add more color, but not take it away – gradually build-up to the shade that you need.
Make It A Wintery Meal!
You’ve made the dessert, but what about the rest of the courses? Here are some recipes to take a look at to make a complete meal!
- Appetizer: Winter Vegetable Soup
- Main Dish: Italian Meatball Soup Recipe
- Beverage: Apple Cider Dark and Stormy Cocktail
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy! Please feel free to check them out too.
More Christmas Dessert Recipes
Want some more Christmas dessert recipes to try? Here you go!
The Grinch Cupcakes
Don't be a Grinch, make these fun cupcakes for Christmas!
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cupcake
- 1⅓ cup flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
- 1½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs, room temp
- 3¾ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
For the Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 4 cups powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 4 Tbsp heavy whipping cream (double cream)
- Green gel food coloring
For the Royal Icing:
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- Red gel food coloring
Instructions
- To make the cupcakes, preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line cupcake pan with paper liners.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add in the vanilla.
- Alternate by adding the flour mixture with the milk; beating after each addition.
- Use an ice cream scoop to equally measure the cupcake mix into the liners - fill about ¾ full.
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, cream the butter and powdered sugar until it is light and creamy. If it doesn't cream, add some of the heavy whipping cream until it creams.
- Test to see if the frosting can form and hold a stiff peak by taking a spoonful of frosting and turning the spoon upside down. If the frosting stays on the spoon it is ready if not then add more powdered sugar half a cup at a time, mixing well.
- Add a few drops of green gel food coloring to reach the desired shade of green. Remember you can always add more coloring, but not take it away.
- Scoop the green frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and frost the cupcakes starting on the outside edge and working to the center of the cupcake.
- To make the icing, combine the egg whites, powdered sugar, and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, mix on medium speed for 4 minutes until stiff peaks form. Add more powdered sugar if required.
- Add several drops of red gel food coloring to the icing and stire well to combine.
- Place the red icing into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.
- Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and pipe tiny red hearts. Or if you can't free hand, draw them with a pencil to the underside of the wax paper and pipe over the top.
- Allow to dry for 5-10 hours.
- When dry, cut the wax paper surrouding the hearts into small squares then carefully peel the paper away from the back of the heart.
- Place the heart in the center of the frosted cupcakes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 551Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 310mgCarbohydrates: 86gFiber: 1gSugar: 70gProtein: 5g
This site uses an outside source (Nutritionix) to provide estimated nutrition. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
The Create the Holidays series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog features free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Christmas and the Winter Holidays. Check out Create the Holidays (formerly Create Christmas) from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012.