Santa's sleigh cupcakes

Method

• 1
  With your little one helping, make the cupcakes following packet directions using the eggs, milk and butter.
• 2
  To make the buttercream, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar, beating well between each addition. Add the milk and beat until well combined.
• 3
  Reserve one-eighth of the buttercream. Add the cocoa to the remaining buttercream and beat until combined.
• 4
  Reserve 1 cupcake to decorate as Santa. Help your child spread the chocolate buttercream over remaining 11 cupcakes. Arrange pretzels on each cupcake to create antlers. Place a chocolate button on the lower half of each cupcake. Use writing icing to attach brown M&M’s to the buttons on 10 cupcakes to create noses. Attach a red M&M to the remaining chocolate-iced cupcake to make a red nose for Rudolph. Use the writing icing to draw mouths on each cupcake. Attach M&M’s to create eyes and top with dots of writing icing.
• 5
  Tint one-third of the reserved buttercream with the red colouring to make a light pink. Spread some of the pink buttercream over half the reserved cupcake to make Santa’s face. Add more red colouring to the remaining pink buttercream to make red. Spread over the remaining half of the cupcake to make his hat. Arrange the brown and red M&M’s Minis to make Santa’s eyes and nose. Place the remaining white buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a 5mm fluted nozzle. Pipe over the cupcake to create hair, a beard and a pom-pom for Santa’s hat.
• 6
  Arrange the reindeer cupcakes in 2 lines, placing the red-nosed reindeer in front and Santa at the back. Use ribbon or string to create a sleigh effect.