Mulled wine cupcakes recipe

Our mulled wine cupcakes are the perfect Christmas cupcakes (opens in new tab) to serve over the festive season. With a soft spiced sponge, warming mulled wine centre and a sweet buttercream top, these cupcakes are sure to go down a treat this winter.

Ingredients

For the cakes

• 150g butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g self-raising flour
• 3 medium eggs
• 2tbsp milk
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• 1tsp ground ginger
• ¼tsp ground cloves
• ½tsp ground cinnamon
• Zest of 1 orange

For the filling:

• 200ml mulled wine
• 1½tbsp cornflour

For the icing:

• 240ml milk
• 60g plain flour
• Pinch salt
• 110g vegetable fat such as Trex
• 110g unsalted butter
• 220g caster sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• Red or pink food colour
• Red currents to decorate (optional)
• Magic Sparkles for the frosty effect (optional)

You will also need:

• Piping bag with Wilton 2D tip (optional)

Method

1. For the cakes:
   1. Set the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.
   2. Place all the cupcake ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth.
   3. Divide the mixture between 12 cases, and bake in the centre of the oven for 25 mins, or until the cakes have risen and are just firm to the touch in the centre.
   4. Remove the cakes from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool before decorating
   For the filling:
   1. Add the mulled wine and cornflour to a small pan. Heat gently, whisking continuously until you have a thick gel. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
   2. When the cakes are cool, use an apple corer to core the cupcakes, keeping the sponge pieces. Add a spoonful of the mulled wine filling to the centre of each cake and replace the sponge pieces.
   For the icing:
   1. Whisk the flour into the milk in a small saucepan and heat gently over a low heat until you have a smooth ball of mixture. Cover with cling making sure there is no air between the clingfilm and the top of the bowl, by pushing it down to touch the top of the flour mix. Leave to cool then pop in the fridge for 20 mins
   2. Beat the other ingredients together in a large bowl with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. When the flour mix is cool, add it to the rest of the ingredients spoon by spoon, continuing to beat the mixture with the electric whisk while you drop it in. Beat for a few minutes until smooth and shiny. Add food colouring and beat again.
   3. Ice with a swirl or spread onto the cupcakes and decorate with red currants and magic sparkles.
    

Top tips for making mulled wine cupcakes

This recipe uses shop-bought mulled wine but you could learn how to make mulled wine (opens in new tab) from scratch and use your own instead.

You might also like…

Easy cupcake recipe (opens in new tab)

Chocolate cupcake recipe (opens in new tab)

Vanilla cupcakes recipe (opens in new tab)