6 Ways To Pipe Buttercream Trees on Cupcakes

We’re back again with another addition to my “25 Bakes of Christmas” series here for the holidays. This time, I can’t wait to share with you my 6 Ways to Pipe Buttercream Trees on Cupcakes! With six different options to choose from, I know you’re sure to love one (or all of them) for your upcoming holiday festivities!

Last week I shared my 6 Ways to Pipe Buttercream Trees on Cupcakes, so this a fun part two if you’re looking to switch things up for something new.

WHAT CUPCAKES DO I USE

My vanilla cupcakes are what I used here for my base – you can use any cupcake recipe you’d like. A spice cake or peppermint cake would be really fun – or even a chocolate cupcake base! Yum! Just make sure you keep the buttercream a lighter color. That way you can tint the buttercream a shade of green as contrast on top.

I baked up the cupcakes in some cute green cupcake liners, let them cool, and then made a batch of my vanilla buttercream to go on top.

Now let’s dive into how to pipe buttercream trees in six ways!

BUTTERCREAM – GREEN, WHITE, and Brown

For my vanilla buttercream, you’re going to want to tint 1/3 of the batch a light soft green color. I used a mixture of Moss and Leaf Green. A little goes a long way for the green, and the color will intensify over time, so a couple drops should do. For the brown, I added in a little cocoa powder and brown gel coloring.

WHAT PIPING TIPS DO I NEED?

For the white buttercream, I used a large wide open circle tip from Ateco.

1. Tip 808 by Ateco.

For the green buttercream, I used a couple different ones. We’ll go over them in more detail with the photos below, but here’s a list of what I used:

1. Tip #67 (leaf tip)
2. Tip #21 (small star tip)
3. Tip #1 (small circle tip)

For the brown buttercream, I used a medium circle tip. You can also use a pretzel, tootsie roll, a chocolate chip, or anything else similar.

1. Tip #12 (medium circle tip)

HOW TO MAKE A FLAT BUTTERCREAM CUPCAKE TOP?

The flat buttercream top makes for a flat blank canvas for our Christmas trees! For the flat top on the white buttercream, there’s a couple easy steps to follow:

1. Pipe a large dollop of buttercream on the cupcake with the Ateco 808 Large Open Circle.
2. Turn the cupcake upside down onto a square of parchment paper and gently press down.
3. Freeze for 10 minutes, then peel off the parchment paper square.
4. To make the surface even more flat, run a cake scraper or angled icing spatula under hot water for a couple seconds to warm the tool, then gently glide over the surface of the flat frosting to make it even more smooth.

WHERE DO I FIND THE Star sprinkles ?

I love the contrast of the star sprinkles with the greenery on the trees. I ended up using these star sprinkles from a Wilton mix, but you can buy them separately here. You can always use fondant stars, or pipe yellow stars on top with a small circle piping tip.

HOW TO PIPE CHRISTMAS tree CUPCAKES – SIX WAYS:

Here’s the info and brief tutorial for each design. If you’d like to see a video, there’s one below with the whole process.

Straight line tree:

1. What you’ll need: Small circle piping tip with green buttercream, star sprinkle, medium piping tip with brown buttercream.
2. How: Start by piping the trunk with the brown buttercream at the bottom. With the green buttercream, pipe a straight line going from the top of the trunk to the top of the cupcake. Pipe lines that progressively get shorter as you meet the top of the cupcake. Place on a sprinkle star on top of the tree.

Rosette Tip tree:

1. What you’ll need: Small star piping tip with green buttercream, star sprinkle, medium piping tip with buttercream.
2. How: Start by piping the trunk with the brown buttercream at the bottom. With the green buttercream, pipe three rosettes in a row above the trunk. Pipe two above that, and then one on top. Place a sprinkle star on top of the tree.

Star Tip squiggle tree:

1. What you’ll need: Small star piping tip with green buttercream, star sprinkle, medium piping tip with buttercream.
2. How: Start by piping the trunk with the brown buttercream at the bottom. With the green buttercream, pipe a squiggle – starting with the top of the cupcake and making the squiggle larger as you reach the bottom. Place a sprinkle star on top of the tree.

Circle tip squiggle tree

1. What you’ll need: Small circle piping tip with green buttercream, star sprinkle, medium piping tip with buttercream.
2. How: Start by piping the trunk with the brown buttercream at the bottom. With the green buttercream, pipe a squiggle – starting with the top of the cupcake and making the squiggle larger as you reach the bottom. Place a sprinkle star on top of the tree.

Leaf tip tree

1. What you’ll need: Small leaf piping tip with green buttercream, star sprinkle, medium piping tip with buttercream.
2. How: Start by piping the trunk with the brown buttercream at the bottom. With the green buttercream, pipe a line of four leafs at the bottom near the trunk. Pipe three more, then another offset three, then two, then one on top. Place a sprinkle star on top of the tree.

Star Tip Tree

1. What you’ll need: Small star piping tip with green buttercream, star sprinkle, medium piping tip with buttercream.
2. How: Start by piping the trunk with the brown buttercream at the bottom. With the green buttercream, pipe a line of 5 stars at the bottom near the trunk. Pipe four more, then another three, then two, then one on top. Place a sprinkle star on top of the tree.

Here’s a video of the process:

I can’t wait for you to try these fun tree decorated cupcakes! If you do, I’d love to see it – make sure to tag me @bakingwithblondie on Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, or Facebook so I can join in on all the fun!

As always, happy baking!

Xo,

Mandy