Description
Delightful and festive Strawberry Santa’s with Cream Cheese Frosting are perfect for holiday gatherings. These cute treats feature fresh strawberries filled and topped with a creamy vanilla-infused cream cheese frosting, adorned with mini chocolate chip eyes. Easy to prepare and visually charming, they're a fun appetizer or dessert that kids and adults alike will enjoy.
Ingredients
Scale
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
Assembly
- 12 strawberries
- Mini chocolate chips (for eyes)
- Additional powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Make the Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Mix together until creamy and smooth.
- Whip in Heavy Cream: Add the heavy cream to the cream cheese mixture and beat for about 4-5 minutes until the frosting is thick, smooth, and creamy enough to pipe.
- Prepare Strawberries: Gently wash the strawberries and pat them completely dry to ensure the frosting adheres well. Cut the stem off each strawberry, then slice about 1/4 off the top of each to create smaller cone-shaped tops for Santa’s hats. Set these tops aside.
- Pipe Santa's Beard: Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe the cream cheese mixture onto the larger bottom parts of the strawberries, creating the look of Santa’s beard.
- Assemble Santa Hats: Place the smaller strawberry tops onto the frosting-covered bottoms, forming Santa’s hat on each strawberry.
- Add Final Decorations: Optionally dust powdered sugar over the hats to mimic snow. Use the piping bag to add a white pom-pom on top of each hat and pipe two side swirls for Santa’s mustache.
- Add Eyes and Chill: Press two mini chocolate chips into the frosting beneath the hat for Santa’s eyes. Refrigerate the Strawberry Santas until ready to serve for best freshness and presentation.
Notes
- Ensure strawberries are completely dry before assembling to prevent frosting from sliding off.
- You can substitute heavy cream with whipping cream if preferred.
- Use a small round piping tip for detailed frosting work like the pom-pom and mustache.
- The powdered sugar dusting is optional but adds a nice snowy effect.
- For a firmer frosting, chill the cream cheese mixture slightly before piping.
- Mini chocolate chips can be replaced with small edible black pearls or dots of melted chocolate.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Strawberry Santa
- Calories: 110 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
