Easter Basket Cupcakes

Easter is approaching fast and I really wanted to do at least one Easter themed post.  I was debating for days of what to make until yesterday when I got a very important text message.  It was from my boyfriend and it said, "Tomorrow is my treat day, you need to bake something!"  I love it when it is his treat day at work because I get to bake and send it all off!  I went into action the second I got home looking for ideas and recipes.  I decided I wanted to make cupcakes and of course they had to be Easter themed, and easy to decorate.  I found a picture of ones that I wanted to make.  They were a vanilla cupcake with green piped grass icing with eggs in the basket and a handle.   I found a recipe I wanted to use and went to work!  The cupcake alone was amazing! It was very moist but also light and delicate.  This will be my go to recipe from now on.  It has the perfect amount of vanilla and its just as easy to whip up as a boxed cake mix.  I love it! Then on to the vanilla buttercream, I found a recipe on Sweet and Saucy.  I got to meet Melody at my school a few weeks ago and I have been wanted to try some of her recipes ever since.  She started blogging and got bigger and bigger and now runs a very successful bakery in LA making cakes for people like Tori Spelling and Miley Cyrus.  Pretty nuts considering her bakery is only like 2 miles away.  So cool.  Anyway I made her Vanilla buttercream and added some green food coloring.  At this point I realized I didn't have the correct tip to make the frosting look like grass, but I did have unsweetened shredding coconut.  So I piped on the frosting and dyed the coconut green and add that to the top of the cupcake.  Then I also bought Mini Robins Eggs and SweetTart Jelly Beans and made those the eggs.  Lastly for the handle, I bought the fruit flavor Twizzlers that come in all different colors and cut them in half.  That was the perfect size and I used toothpicks to hold them in.  All in all, the cupcakes came out amazing and I hope Lakeshore loves them!  Happy Friday and Happy Easter to all my readers! 

Vanilla Cupcake Recipe - Adapted from Lick My Spoon

Yield: 30 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour

2 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Butter, room temperature and unsalted

2 Cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 Cup Whole Milk, room temperature

1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a cupcake tray with liners. 
2. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and cream with the butter for 7 minutes, scraping the bowl when needed (batter should be nearly white and fluffy). 
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Turn the speed to low and alternatively, add the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour until just mixed. 
4. Add vanilla until just mixed. Divide the batter into the cupcake liners until 2/3 full.  I used a cookie scooper which was the perfect amount to fill 1 cupcake. 
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out just clean, about 12-15 minutes. 
6. Cool for 5-10 minutes on a rack.  Frost with your choice of icing!

Vanilla Buttercream - Adapted from My Sweet and Saucy

Yield: About 4 Cups, just enough to frost the 30 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter, unsalted and room temperature

5 Cups Powdered Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Salt - only if you want to help with over sweetness

4 Teaspoons Milk

1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice - only if you want to help with over sweetness

Directions

1. In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter & salt for about 30 seconds and then add half of the powdered sugar and the milk to the butter and beat again until combined. Scrape down the bowl.  
2. Add the rest of the powdered sugar, the vanilla, and the lemon juice and beat until combined.  Scrape down the bowl again.  
3. Beat on high speed for 5-6 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy.  She says that she prefers to use it the same day, but that it can keep in the refrigerator for 3 days if tightly wrapped.  I have also left it out at room temperature overnight (if I was going to use it in the morning) and it was just fine.  
4. Make sure and stir the buttercream well though before using to get the air bubbles out of the frosting. 
5. Frost your cake or cupcakes, then ENJOY! 

For the decoration on the cupcake, you can either pipe the icing to look like grass if you have the #133 or #233 tip, or add the green coconut like I did.  You can use whatever candy you want for the eggs and then I used twizzlers for the handles.   This is a perfect activity for kids to help with!  

Happy Easter!