Delight your friends and family for Easter with these cute and
February was a bit of a mixed bag at this end... the day job, travelling, gigs and car woes. I did manage to squeeze in some baking among all of that and I'm finally getting round to sharing it with you.
So here we go... first up in the Easter bakes that I have for you, are these rather adorable mini egg cupcakes!
There's no finer Easter chocolate in my opinion than a mini egg. The crisp speckled shells surrounding a melt in the mouth chocolate centre. Over the years, the humble mini egg has been reinvented, imitated, rivalled but never beaten.
This Easter a new mini egg appeared on the shelves of my local supermarket; it caught my eye and I just had to give them a try.
Now M&Ms are famed for the crisp shell coating chocolate and peanuts, but M&M mini eggs. Surely they wouldn't work? They wouldn't be able to match the traditional Cadburys ones; would they?
Undeterred I decided that their pretty pastel colours would be ideal for some Easter mini egg cupcakes that I had at the back of my mind. I'll be honest, taste-wise, they're pretty much a standard M&M, and they certainly didn't rival the Cadburys mini eggs for a second. But, they weren't bad, and if there were no alternative, then I'd quite happily munch on a bag of these instead.
Anyway, let's get back to these cupcakes...
I decided to pair the M&Ms mini eggs with a white chocolate cupcake and buttercream frosting, and to give the cake the same speckled look like the mini eggs, added rainbow coloured white chocolate drops into the batter as well.
If you didn't want to add more chocolate (although these are for Easter, so why wouldn't you?) you could use
The best thing about these mini egg cupcakes are they fit perfectly into the 'pods' of a cardboard egg box; so if you were thinking of gifting these for Easter, what better way to present them.
Check out eggs in your local supermarket for different coloured boxes. You no longer have a standard grey egg box; you can get purple ones, blue, green even pink ones.
Handy hints for perfect cupcakes every time
Mini cupcakes are the perfect bitesize treat if you're trying to be good but feeling a little naughty.
Although they're just a mini version of their regular-sized big brother, here's a few handy hints for getting them perfect every time.
- Measure... I can't stress how much better your baking will turn out if you measure your ingredients. I know it is easier to go by cups but baking is a little bit sciencey, so I highly recommend investing in a set of digital kitchen scales.
- And whilst we're talking about ingredients, make sure that they are at room temperature before you start baking. Not only will it make it easier to cream the butter and sugar together, but it comes back down to science again. Trust me when I say, just do it. I'll cover off the science of baking soon in another post.
- Mini Cupcake Cases – Mini cupcake cases don't seem to be as easy to find as regular sized ones. I've searched high and low for the perfect size. These ones from Lakeland are practically perfect. They don’t get greasy, they’re sturdy and they fit perfectly in my mini cupcake pan.
- And on that note – Mini Muffin/Cupcake Pan – make sure you get one that’s deep, so the cupcakes don’t spread too much when they’re baking. The Wilton one has 24 holes and is a great fit in my oven. You’re not judging with small fiddly 12 hole pans either. This is well worth the investment.
- Lastly, when filling your cases, make sure not to overfill them. Whilst I use an ice cream scoop for regular-sized cupcakes, for mini ones, I use a teaspoon. About 1.5 teaspoons of batter should do the trick.
What do you think of these totally cute, mini egg cupcakes? They are the perfect size to pop into an egg box and gifted as Easter treats
Why not swap the shop-bought chocolate eggs this year and delight your family and friends with cupcakes instead. Don't forget to keep one back for yourself.
Why not take a look at these Easter treats...
- The Ultimate Creme Egg cake
- Quick and simple Easter chocolate bark
- Vanilla Easter cupcakes
- The Ultimate Creme Egg traybake
Pin Easter Mini Egg Cupcakes
Have you made this recipe?
I'd love to hear what you think, so please post a comment and star rating below. You can also share a picture on Instagram, don't forget to tag me @crumbscorkscrews!
Mini Egg Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 100 g White Chocolate
- 150 g Unsalted Butter
- 150 g Caster Sugar
- 3 Eggs Medium
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 150 g Self-raising Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 50 g Rainbow Chocolate Drops or Funfetti Strands
For the Buttercream
- 50 g White Chocolate
- 200 g Butter Unsalted
- 400 g Icing Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Pink Food Colour Gel
To Decorate
- Mini Eggs or Easter Candy
Instructions
- To make the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F and line a mini cupcake tray with 24 mini cupcake cases.
- Add the chocolate to a small heatproof bowl, place over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water. Heat until all the chocolate has melted. Alternatively, melt in the microwave. Set aside to cool.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until softened. Alternatively, you can make the cake batter, in a large mixing bowl, by hand or with an electric hand whisk.
- Add the caster sugar to the softened butter and cream until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, to the creamed mixture. Beat well between adding each egg.
- Add the melted white chocolate, and vanilla extract then mix until well combined.
- Sift the flour and baking powder together, and add to the mixture. Gently mix together until the cake batter is soft and smooth.
- Use 2 teaspoons to divide the batter between the cupcake cases, approximately 1.5 spoons per case.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack.
- To make the white chocolate buttercream
- Add the chocolate to a small heatproof bowl, place over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water. Heat until all the chocolate has melted. Alternatively, melt in the microwave. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add the remaining icing sugar and melted chocolate. Beat until smooth.
- To decorate
- Fill a piping bag fitted with star nozzle.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes then decorate with mini eggs.
Notes
YOUR OWN NOTES
Nutrition
Disclaimer
The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Lou Carruthers
These are too cute but taste absolutely delicious!