Mini egg cupcakes

These could just be the cutest cupcakes I have ever baked – vanilla cupcakes with mini eggs hidden within, topped with colourful buttercream nests filled with even more mini eggs to decorate.

Tip: gather the pink, purple and yellow mini eggs for the decoration before you begin and use the white mini eggs for the cupcake mixture.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 150g plain flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 160g mini eggs

For the buttercream:

• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 300g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp of whole milk
• Pink, purple and yellow gel food colouring

For the decoration:

• Mini eggs (you will need about 120g for three eggs per cupcake)

Step 1 – preparation

Preheat your oven to 180ºC (fan oven 160ºC).

Line 12 cupcake tin holes with cupcake cases.

Step 2 – prepare the cupcakes

Beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy in a large bowl.

Add the eggs, flour, baking powder and cocoa vanilla extract until well combined.

Crush the mini eggs and mix through.

Divide the cupcake mixture evenly between the 12 cases.

Step 3 – bake

Bake the cupcakes for around 18 minutes until fully baked.

Leave to cool fully on a cooling rack.

Step 4 – prepare the buttercream

Beat the butter with an electric mixer for a few minutes until pale in a large bowl.

Gradually beat in the icing sugar a little at a time until well combined.

Add the milk and vanilla extract and continue to beat for about 5 minutes.

Divide the buttercream into three small bowls and colour one pink, one purple and the final one yellow.

Step 5 – decorate and enjoy

Decorate the cupcakes with the pink, purple and yellow buttercream. I created a rosette pattern using a Wilton’s 1M nozzle.

Finish by topping the cupcakes with the mini eggs. I topped each of mine with pink, purple and yellow eggs to match the buttercream.

Enjoy!