Eggs in a Nest Cupcakes

Good morning everyone and hello from a SUNNY Toronto!  That's right, today we are set to hit double digits of 10°!!!!!  An end to the longest Winter I've ever experienced living here, Spring is going to be very welcome around here that's for sure :-) 

 

This past weekend I had the chance to do a lot of baking... the best kind of weekend! 

 

We had our final choir concert of the 2013-2014 season (Check out our Cantabile Chamber Singers website) on Saturday evening and I made two loaf cakes to donate to the silent auction we ran at the interval.  I was really happy with how they turned out, and I hope whoever won them enjoys eating them!  You might have seen the sneak peek on Facebook or Instagram of the baking I did this weekend... I had to choose which to blog about this week, and the Eggs in a Nest Cupcakes won! 

 

 

With Spring in the air, and April arriving tomorrow I thought it was about time I got ready for Easter!  We already picked up an enormous pack of mini eggs from Target, and I was treated to new cupcake wrappers from a fellow choir member who was so sweet to think of me when she saw lots of new designs on her recent vacation so I was all set, Easter cupcakes were just begging to be made :-)

 

As I was making two loaf cakes for the choir on Saturday, and we had plans with friends on Sunday evening, I thought it would be perfect to make a 1 1/2 batch of each loaf recipe I made so that I would have extra batter for a few cupcakes in each flavour!

 

I'm so glad I did that, it was an easy way to make a batch of 8 cupcakes and the bonus this time was that it was in two flavours so we could pick our favourites to eat!!

 

 

 

Saturday baking done, and a 7am wake up on Sunday morning to get the buttercream piped!  A bit different to my usually dark nighttime baking, this time the light was super bright in the morning!

 

4 lemon cupcakes and 4 almond cupcakes ready to be decorated.  I was excited to see how it would turn out :-)

 

 

Usually I'll have made a dozen cupcakes, but this time it was only 8, and as I was colouring it brown I didn't really need any leftover of this.  So I scaled down the recipe, and beat together 6oz unsalted butter with 9oz icing sugar and a tablespoon of milk.  I actually didn't add any vanilla flavouring (or any flavour in fact) as I wanted the plain flavour to work with both the lemon and the almond cupcakes.

 

 

Armed with a piping bag, and the #233 Wilton decorating tip, which I usually use for creating a grass or hair effect in decorating.  This time I thought it would work perfectly for the nest.  I just kept the piping bag moving so that it created long strands rather than short blades of grass!

 

 

Then to finish off, it was an easy decoration with 3 mini eggs sitting in each nest.  I made sure to use a yellow egg on each of the lemon cupcakes, and a blue egg on each of the almond cupcakes so each flavour could be identified!  I knew I definitely wanted a lemon one, and wanted to not have to have a lucky guess :-D

 

 

 

By the time I finished piping the butter was quite warm and soft... So I left them outside for a while to harden up!

 

 

 

So now you've seen, the eggs in a nest cupcake title really is clear!  There are eggs in a nest!!  Check out my Chicks in a Nest Easter Cake from 2012 (technically before I started this blog!)... it's still one of my favourites and I'd love for you to see :-)

 

 

I'm so happy with how these look.  And really they were nice and simple to make!!  The grass tip works wonders for the piping here, and makes it super fun and easy to create the nest on top of the cupcake ... Or perhaps I shouldn't admit to how easy they are!  But do make them!

 

 

So with the temperature on the up, and Spring perhaps finally showing it's face I am getting excited for April and Easter!  Are you!?

 

 

 

For the full Lemon and Almond cake recipes please check back next week.  I'll be posting the loaf cakes in full detail then!  Lots of pictures and both of the recipes then :-)

 

 



This time last year it was Easter already!  Check out my Hand Stitched Easter Cards I made last year!  I loved making them, and my family all loved them too ♥