Santa Belly Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vanilla.In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy
4. Reduce the speed to medium-low, slowly add the egg and egg whites one at a time, and beat until creamy
5. Slowly add half the flour mixture, then the milk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture, beating until just blended after each addition.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners and bake until the tops are just dry to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
7. Allow cooling completely
8. Using a standing mixer with a paddle beater, cream the butter and vanilla until combined
9. Mix in 2 C of powdered sugar on low speed until combined, the frosting will look like pebbles
10. Mix in the remaining powdered sugar and slowly increase speed to medium speed
11. Mix in the heavy whipping cream and continue to beat the frosting until it is combined and smooth
12. Scoop about 1 C of frosting into both of the small bowls
13. In one bowl, mix in a few drops of yellow gel food coloring then scoop into 1 of the piping bags
14. In the second bowl, repeat the step above in order to make your black frosting color
15. Using the remaining frosting in the mixing bowl, add several drops of red gel food coloring to create your red frosting

Building your Santa belly cupcake

1. Using the cookie scoop, scoop a mound of red frosting onto the top of a cooled cupcake
2. Carefully place the cupcake upside down so that the frosting is flat on top of the silicone baking mat
3. Repeat the step above for the remaining cupcakes
4. Place into the freezer for 10 minutes or until the frosting is firm
5. This allows you to get the smooth frosting layer
6. Carefully peel off the frosting and the cupcake off the silicone baking mat
7. Using the black frosting, pipe a thick line of black frosting across the center of the cupcake
8. Using the yellow, create an open square in the center of the black line. This is the belt buckle
9. Using the black frosting again, pipe two dots above the buckle
10. Enjoy