Mini Egg Speckled Cupcakes

Ingredients

• Cupcakes
• Unsalted Butter / Stork (160g)
• Caster Sugar (160g)
• Self Raising Flour (130g)
• Cocoa Powder (30g)
• 3 Large Eggs
• Milk (2 tablespoons) - I used semi-skimmed
• Buttercream
• Unsalted Butter (250g)
• Icing Sugar (500g)
• Vanilla Extract (1 teaspoon)
• Boiling Water (1-2 tablespoons)
• Turquoise Food Coloring (I use ProGel)
• Speckling
• Cocoa Powder (1 tablespoon)
• Water (1 - 1.5 tablespoons)
• Decoration
• Mini Eggs (36 = 3 for each cupcake; get a large 296g bag)

Method

• Cupcakes

1. Heat your oven to 180°C (350°F) standard oven / 160°C (320°F) fan oven. Line a cupcake/muffin tray with 12 cases.
2. Cream the butter/stork and caster sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Mix in the eggs one at a time, and then sieve in the flour and cocoa powder. Then add in the milk and mix until smooth
4. Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 cupcake cases. Bake for 18-20 minutes (I baked mine for 18) until the cupcakes have become domed, are springy, and a skewer/toothpick comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool for a minute in the cupcake tray, then transfer the cupcakes in their cases to a wire cooling rack. Allow to fully cool before decorating with buttercream.

• Buttercream

1. Beat room temperature butter for a couple of minutes using a hand or stand mixure until the butter has softened.
2. Add in the icing sugar and vanilla extract, and beat till smooth and the mixture has softened and turned lighter in colour.
3. Add the food colouring (a tiny amount at a time) until the desired colour has been reached. Beat for another couple of minutes.
4. Add 1-2 tablespoons of boiling water if the mixture is too firm to loosen it up. Be careful, don't add too much - a little goes a long way!
5. Use a spatula to add the buttercream to a large piping bag with a 2D Closed Star Piping tip.
6. Pipe buttercream spirals on to each cupcake and finish with three mini eggs for decoration!

• Speckling

1. Mix cocoa powder and water in a small bowl until smooth and thin (the consistency should be like paint). If it's too runny add more cocoa!
2. Dip a small paintbrush or toothbrush (a new clean one!) in to your paint and flick speckles on to your cupcakes!

Notes

• - For a plain vanilla sponge remove the 25g of Cocoa Powder and add 25g of Self Raising Flour.
• - I've made these cupcakes a few times with different coloured buttercream - pastel pink, purple, blue etc :)