Easter Bakes | Mini Egg Cupcakes

Imagine Easter. What comes into your mind? A beautiful, uplifting time. Spring blooms. Family celebrations. Chicks, lambs and bunnies a plenty. Baskets laden with chocolate… Lots and lots of chocolate. Today we’re sharing with you one of our favourite Easter bakes - mini egg cupcakes. They’re super simple to make and the pastel coloured icing with mini eggs sitting proud on top make them irresistible for adults and children alike. Perfect for Easter elevenses, the base is a gorgeous, moist chocolate cake which I think is often tricky to get right, but this is reminiscent of a chocolate sponge cake my granny used to make and definitely hits the spot!

Mini Egg Cupcakes | Ingredients

Makes 12 large cupcakes

FOR THE CUPCAKES

• 200g plain flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 280g golden caster sugar
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 80g unsalted butter
• 240ml whole milk
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR THE ICING

• 500g icing sugar
• 160g unsalted butter
• 50ml whole milk
• Food colouring of your choice
• Mini Eggs

Mini Egg Cupcakes | Method

Preheat your oven to 170°c.

Sieve your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder into a freestanding mixer’s bowl*. Add your sugar, salt and butter before beating on a slow speed until everything is incorporated and you are left with a sandy consistency.

*If you don’t have a freestanding mixer a handheld electric whisk works just as well. Just keep it on a slow speed.

In a jug, whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla extract.

With your mixer still on a slow speed, into the flour mixture slowly pour about half of the milk mixture. Turn up the speed to remove any lumps then pop it back to slow and add the remaining liquid. 

Scrape down the sides of the bowl before another minute of mixing on a medium speed. You don’t want to overbeat. The mixture will feel much wetter than a traditional fairy cake batter but don’t worry!  

Use an ice cream scoop to put the mixture into your muffin cases. This ensures each case has the same amount - around two thirds full. Don’t be tempted to overfill!

Bake in your preheated oven for 24 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cake comes out clean. 

Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tray slightly before cooling completely on a wire rack. 

While the cupcakes are cooling, beat the icing sugar and butter together until well mixed and incorporated. 

Add the milk gradually before beating at a high speed until light and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes but is worth it for fluffy icing! 

Add a couple of drops of food colouring of your choice to create pastel coloured icing - beat for a minute to ensure evenly incorporated.

Once the cupcakes are completely cool, spoon or pipe the icing on top and decorate abundantly with mini eggs. 

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