When my boys were little my dad set up elaborate egg hunts for them on Easter. A tradition he took very seriously and had started when I was a little girl. In the mid 1970s, when I was about 7, my dad decided to surprise the neighborhood kids and rented a giant Easter Bunny suit. As we were excitedly hunting for our colorful eggs, he came lumbering out of the forest behind our home in CT. What he hadn’t anticipated is how the sight of a 6-foot-tall bunny, enthusiastically bounding out between the trees would impress a bunch of children. We were absolutely terrified and ran, screaming, back to the house! It is a hilarious story that we never let my dad forget! We all have funny memories of good intentions gone a little wrong. I spared my children from the same trauma and made my dad promise never to rent another bunny suit! 😉 Instead, I made cute cupcakes for them.
These Easter Egg Cupcakes are decorated for the kids, but the flavors will satisfy the adults. My Chocolate Devil’s Food cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes and Passion Fruit Buttercream is a delicious combination, but you can go with whatever flavor combinations you and the kids are excited about.
Chocolate Easter Egg Baskets
The little nests are actually super simple to create. All you need is melted chocolate. I used white chocolate for the Easter Baskets, but you can use milk chocolate or even bittersweet.
To create the chocolate basket: 1. Use a pastry brush to thinly paint a circle with melted chocolate onto a sheet of plastic wrap. 2. Lift the plastic wrap and drape the chocolate circle over an upside-down bowl or small ramekin, place in the freezer until the chocolate sets, about 5 minutes. Remove from the freezer and very carefully remove the plastic wrap from the set chocolate. 3. The grass is the result of a special grass piping tip.
Add candy easter eggs to the baskets for the finishing touch.
Chocolate Flower Cake Topper
To make a layered flower, use the same technique as the chocolate basket above, but make several size circles and drape them over bowls in graduating sizes, so they will nestle together once they are chilled and set. The final result will look like flower petals. Instead of piping grass in the center, I piped small beads of the butter cream and set silver dragees on them. (See the how-to video in the recipe card)
The cake layers are made up of Devil’s Food Cake and Outrageous Mocha Buttercream.
Video
Ingredients
- 1 batch Devil’s Food baked as 24 cupcakes
- 8 oz Passion fruit chocolate*, melted (to make the nests) can use white chocolate or any flavor you want
- Candied mini eggs**
American Buttercream
- 6 cups (720g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (330g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup (60ml) passion fruit juice juice of two passion fruits****
Instructions
American Buttercream
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the confectioners’ sugar and butter and beat on low speed until combined.
- Turn the mixer speed to medium and beat until a thick paste forms. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add the vanilla, almond extract and salt and beat for a few seconds more.
- Remove 1/3 of the buttercream from the bowl and cover. This will be your grass and you'll be adding green food coloring to it and using a Grass Piping Tip***. For the remaining 2/3 buttercream, with the mixer on low speed, add enough of the passion fruit juice, a little at a time, to make the frosting spreadable. Use immediately.
You’re the best, Stephanie! Thanks for video sharing!
You are so welcome!
Hi Zoe and team, I’ve searched high and low for the link to your video showing how to make the flower petals on top of this cupcake but the instagram link is broken. Can you please fix or share a new link or explain? Hoping to make these this Easter:)…(aside: your devils food is already my go to for chocolate cupcake! So good…)
Hi Marykay! Thank you for asking. I have added a video and some images to the post above to hopefully help guide you as you make these cute Easter egg cupcakes! Enjoy.
I just found your show on You Tube and was so impressed with the simplicity of your skills in bread baking. Being a novice I bought both your books, Artisan bread Baking and Zoe Bakes. I look forward to watching your new shows (and old) on Magnolia Network.
Love your hand expressions and sweet personality.