Easter Cup Cakes

To make these fun Easter cakes you can either make your own fondant icing chicks to decorate the cakes or buy some fluffy yellow ones instead.  Ready coloured fondant icing is now available from most supermarkets.

Ingredients 

For the cakes:

125g/4oz butter at room temperature

125g/4oz caster sugar

2 medium eggs

100g/4oz self raising flour

25g/1oz cocoa powder

 

For the fondant icing chick decorations:

2 x 250g/9oz pack of white fondant icing

Yellow food colouring

Orange food colouring

or 1 x 250g pack yellow fondant icing and 1 x 250g pack of orange fondant icing.

Black writing icing

 

Buttercream for the ‘nest’ and ‘straw’ icing:

225g/8oz butter at room temperature

525g/18oz icing sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

 Serves 12

Method 

For the cakes:

  1. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cupcake cases
  2. Preheat the oven 180ºC conventional oven, centre shelf, 170ºC fan oven, GM 5.
  3. Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until pale and creamy
  4. Gradually add the beaten eggs
  5. Sift together the flour and the cocoa and gently fold into the mixture.
  6. Divide the mixture evenly between the cup cake cases
  7. Bake in the pre heated oven for 15-18 minutes until risen and soft to the touch.
  8. Allow to cool on a rack completely before decorating.

 

For the fondant icing chick decorations:

  1. If you are using white fondant, colour ⅔ of the fondant yellow for the bodies of the chicks and the remaining fondant orange for their beaks.
  2. If you are using the ready coloured fondant, roll the yellow fondant into 36 small rounds about the size of a 10p piece for the chicks bodies.
  3. Flatten the orange fondant and cut into small diamond shapes, fold in the centre to form a beak and attach to the body with a little water.
  4. Use the black writing icing to give each of the chick’s eyes.
  5. Put to one side to allow to dry.

 

Buttercream for the ‘nest’ and ‘straw’ icing:

  1. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth
  2. Add a little milk if the icing needs softening.
  3. Divide the buttercream in half, mix the cocoa with a little hot water to a paste, allow to cool and mix into one half of the icing.
  4. Place the Grass nozzle into a piping bag with the plain icing and use to create the straw affect around the edge of each cooled cake.
  5. With a clean Grass nozzle and piping bag, use the chocolate icing to create the nest on the straw.
  6. Place your 3 fondant chicks into their nest.
  7. Any leftover buttercream will keep covered in the fridge until the next time.

                                                    HAPPY EASTER!

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