Friday 29 April 2011

Easter Nest cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcakes:
  • 170g flour
  • 75g cocoa powder
  • 150g sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 110g butter, softened
  • 225ml milk
  • 1tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients for milk chocolate topping icing

  • 350g milk chocolate (broke into pieces)
  • 6 tbsp butter, softened
  • 285g icing sugar
  • 55ml milk
  • 1tsp vanilla
  • 6 chocolate flake bars
  • mini eggs for deco

Method for cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 180c. Line a cupcake baking tray with paper liners

Place the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Sift all the dry ingredients together.

Beat sugar, butter and vanilla until creamy. Add egg one at a time beating well each time. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix well.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcakes liners up to about 1/2 full. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes. Transfer onto a wiring cooling rack to cool completely.

Method for icing:

Place the milk chocolate in a small bowl together with the butter. Place in a pan of hot water and heat over a medium heat, stirring the chocolate until it melts.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and gradually beat in the icing sugar, alternating it with milk. Finally stir in the vanilla. Spread generously on each of the cooled cupcake.

Cut each of the chocolate flakes in half and the cut them in half, length ways. Arrange the pieces of flake around the top of each egg, giving a nest-like appearance.

Place 3 mini eggs in the centre of each arrangement. To make it a really special effort, buy some fluffy decorative chicks and place one on each cake.