Easter Cupcakes

Easter isn’t very far away and what better way to celebrate than to get into the kitchen and start baking.  These Easter cupcakes will make a wonderful gift and are a delicious alternative to the traditional chocolate eggs.  Baking is also a great way to get the children involved.

Cupcake Cases
Before you start you are going to need some cupcake cases. They are designed to hold your bakes in shape but with lots of styles and colours to choose from they can actually be part of the features. Here are a few that would look great to bake your Easter Cupcakes in:

75 Peter Rabbit Assorted Cupcake Cases

Cupcake Cases Spring Flowers (60)

Cupcake Cases (75) Polka Dot Bright

We have plenty of Easter themed decorations here at Cake Stands to decorate your cupcakes with, just let your imagination run wild, but first here is one of our favourite recipes to get you started:

For the Cupcakes

• 4 - tbsp boiling water
• 40g - Cocoa Powder
• 3 Free Range Large Egg(s)
• 175g - Unsalted Butter (Softened)
• 165g - Golden Caster Sugar
• 115g - Self-Raising White Flour
• 1 tsp - Baking Powder

For the Buttercream

• 250g Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
• 500g - Icing Sugar
• 30g - Cocoa Powder
• 3 - tbsp Milk
• Decorations of your choosing

(If you would prefer vanilla buttercream, omit the cocoa powder and exchange for a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), fan 180°C, or Gas Mark 6.
2. Line a muffin tin with paper cases. 
3. Sift the cocoa powder into a large bowl, pour in the boiling water and mix into a thick paste.
4. Add the remaining cake ingredients and mix with an electric hand whisk (or beat with a wooden spoon)
5. Divide the mixture equally between the 12 paper cases and bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch.  You can test them with a cocktail stick by inserting into the middle, if the stick comes out clean then they are baked.
6. Cool in the cases on a wire rack.  
7. Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream by beating the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder together.  Gradually add the milk until you reach the right consistency and the buttercream looks smooth and fluffy. 
8. Once the cakes are cooled, pipe the buttercream on top and decorate as you wish.

Piping

Once fully cooled, you will need to cover the cupcakes in the buttercream.  You could just spread this with a small knife or the back of a spoon, but if you want a more defined look you could pipe it on with a piping bag.  There are many different nozzles to choose from that will give different patterns and effects. You could create a swirl for a chicks nest or if you use coloured icing you could create a grass effect for a little bunny to hop on.

We like this complete Jamie Oliver Piping Bag Kit with 5 Nozzles JB3820

Decorating

The options are endless for decorating your cupcakes. You could make them all uniform and decorate them all the same or go for a range of different styles and colours.

We have a selection of cute, ready made edible and non edible decorations which can just be simply placed on top of each cake, but if you are feeling a bit more adventurous, we have moulds so that you can make your own too.

Easter Cute Baby Chick Sugar Pipings - Pack of 12

Wilton Easter Bunny Bums Candy Mould

Small Assorted Pompom Chicks

Wilton Sprinkles Pouch Bright Flowers

Easter Bunny & Tail Rings

With this easy to follow recipe and plenty of great baking supplies and decorations to choose from, we are sure you will want to bake these Easter Cupcakes over and over again and why not!

Sources:
https://www.bakingmad.com/recipe/mary-berry-chocolate-cupcake