I have been waiting all year to make these cupcakes! I saved a photo of a cupcake with sugared cranberries earlier in this year and thought it would be perfect for Christmas.
Well, it’s December so it’s time to start baking. I cheated and purchased a red velvet cake mix. It uses so much red dye when making it from scratch so I just added 1/4 cup of sour cream (like I do to most cake mixes) and it tasted great.
Now for the frosting. Cream cheese is your normal go to for red velvet cake but my niece made some red velvet cupcakes the other day with cookies and cream frosting and it was so good. In my opinion, it is the perfect pairing of flavors.
For the frosting you will need:
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (I use the Crisco sticks)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups sifted powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
- 10 Oreo cookies, finely ground (about 1 cup fine crumbs)
- 1/4 cup of milk or milk substitute
- In a mixer, cream together the butter and Crisco.
- Add vanilla and mix until it is combined.
- Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time on low speed until combined.
- Add the Oreo cookie crumbs.
- Add 3-4 tablespoons of milk. Increase speed and mix until desired consistency. (Add more milk if too thick)
SUGARED CRANBERRIES
I did this the super simple way. I took cranberries and places them in a bowl of water and then took several out and placed them on a towel to dry slightly. I then placed several of the berries at a time into a small bowl of sugar and swirled to coat. Lay them on parchment or wax paper for a few minutes to dry.
I used rosemary for the greenery but any edible greenery would work.
