Christmas Character Cupcakes

• Begin by rolling out the white, peach, and light brown sugar paste roughly half a centimetre thick. Cut out 4 white circles, 8 peach circles and 4 brown circles using the cookie cutter. These will form the base of the faces.
• Coat the tops of the cakes with a thin layer of glace icing and stick the sugar paste circles to the cakes.

For the Reindeer (4 in total)

• Take a ball roughly the size of a 50p piece of dark brown sugar paste and roll out until half a centimetre thick. Using a sharp knife cut out the shape of antlers freehand. Coat the back with a little glace icing and still to the top of the cake.
  
•  With the remaining dark brown sugar paste, roll a thin sausage and create a ‘W’ shape. Stick this to the cake top so that the centre of the ‘W’ is in the centre of the cake.
• Just a few millimetres below, carefully dab two eyes using a spoon and the glace icing. Take a little bit of black icing and roll two small balls to create the pupils for the eyes. Place these carefully in the centre of the two white dots.
• Lastly, pinch a small amount of red sugar paste and roll into a ball. Flatten with your fingers to create a flat, circular, red nose. Using the glace icing stick the nose over the central spike of the ‘W.’
• Repeat for each brown cupcake.

For the Snowmen

• Roll 6 small balls out of the black icing. Dab two eyes of glace icing in the centre of the cap and add two balls for pupils. Using a small amount of glace icing, stick the remaining four balls in a crescent shape to form the snowman’s mouth.
• Next take a pinch of orange sugar paste and form into a triangle, much like a carrot nose. Stick this with glace icing just below the eyes and in the centre of the cupcake top.
• For the snowman’s hat, roll the purple icing roughly half a centimetre thick. Cut out a whole circle using the cookie cutter. With the sharp knife, cut this in half. Place one half to one side to use as an elf’s hat later. Stick the hat to the cake using a little glace icing. 
• Take a small amount of purple sugar paste and roll into a sausage roughly half a centimetre longer than the diameter of the cake. Do the same with the green sugar paste. Place the two “sausages” next to each other and twist. Pinch the ends to seal and stick along the bottom edge of the hat to create a stripe-y trim. 
• Take a pinch of green icing and roll into a ball, flatten and then using the knife, score grooves around the outside to look like a pom-pom. Stick to the top of the hate with a little glace icing.
• Repeat for each white cupcake.

For Father Christmas (4 in total)

• Roll the red sugar paste roughly half a centimetre thick. Cut out a circle using the cookie cutter. Cut this in half and place one half to one side for use on another Father Christmas cupcake.
• Stick the red half to the top of the cupcake with a little glace icing.
• Roll a ball and a sausage with the white sugar paste and using your knife create grooves along the edges to create a pom-pom effect. Attach the round pom-pom to the top of the red half of the cupcake and attach the sausage along the bottom to trim Father Christmas’s hat.
• For the eyes, roll two small balls from the black sugar paste. Attach with a little dab of glace icing.
• Using the sharp knife, cut a beard free hand from the white sugar paste. Use semicircle movements in roughly a triangular shape” Stick to the cake with glace icing.
• Finish off the Santa Clause cupcake with a flattened ball of red sugar paste for a nose, and a small smile with the edible marker.
• Repeat for 3 peach cupcakes.

For the elves (4 in total)

• For the elf’s hat, roll the green sugar paste roughly half a centimetre thick. Cut out a whole circle using the cookie cutter. With the sharp knife, cut this in half. Place one half to one side to use as a snowman’s. Stick the hat to the cake using a little glace icing. 
• Take a small amount of purple sugar paste and roll into a sausage roughly half a centimetre longer than the diameter of the cake. Do the same with the green sugar paste. Place the two “sausages” next to each other and twist. Pinch the ends to seal and stick along the bottom edge of the hat to create a stripe-y trim. 
• Take a pinch of purple sugar paste and roll into a ball, flatten and then using the knife, score grooves around the outside to look like a pom-pom. Stick to the top of the hate with a little glace icing.
• Just a few millimetres below, carefully dab two eyes using a spoon and the glace icing. 
• Take a little bit of black icing and roll two small balls to create the pupils for the eyes. Place these carefully in the centre of the two white dots.
• Using an edible marker, draw on a small smile and three freckles on each cheek. (A little rose coloured glitter dust works well for rosey cheeks too!)
• To finish, take some remaining peach icing and roll into two small balls. Pinch half of the small ball to create a pixie ear shape. 
• Attach both ears to the edge of the cupcake, slightly overlapping the trim of the hat.
• Repeat for the remaining peach cupcakes.