Black and White Cupcakes

I hope you had a fantastic Easter.  I’m not one to get all caught up in the bunny and eggs, (to me, it’s about Jesus), but I couldn’t resist attending our church’s Easter egg hunt, especially now that Matthew is old enough to know a bit of what’s going on, you know, being all of 21 months.  It was a little bit of a hectic Saturday morning and it wasn’t until we got to the church parking lot that I realized we completely forgot to get some sort of basket for him.

So, we thought we were being creative by putting the eggs he found in the hood of his sweatshirt.

It worked for all of a few seconds, until he would bend down to pick up more eggs off the ground and they would all come tumbling over his head.  Actually, it was kind-of funny, but Eric and I decided that holding onto the eggs for him was a little better idea.  In the end, it didn’t matter, because Matthew had fun with or without eggs, and that was all that mattered.

On Sunday, after church, my parents put on a fantastic spread, and left the dessert for me.  Being that we were out running errands and had the egg hunt yesterday, I didn’t have much time to make a fancy dessert, so I decided to make cupcakes with a festive twist instead.

Don’t get me started about these!  I could go on and on about them, but just know that I love them so much I would marry them if I could.  However, since I can’t, I’ll just opt to eat them instead and enjoy every bite.  These cupcakes are a vanilla cake topped with chocolate buttercream and three mini robin eggs.  Festive for Easter or spring.  Perfect anytime.  Enjoy! xoxo

Black and White Cupcakes

printable recipe

Vanilla Cake Batter

1 ½ t baking powder

1 c cake flour

½ c flour

1 c sugar

¼ t salt

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature

½ c milk

2 eggs, room temperature

2 t pure vanilla extract (I like Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon)

Pre-heat oven to 350, and line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Using a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, pour dry ingredients into the bowl and mix on low for 2-3 minutes, until well combined.  Add the cubed softened butter, and mix on low speed until the butter is well-coated and pieces are small and crumb-like, about 20-30 seconds.

Add eggs, one at a time, until combined.  (The egg yolk is dissolved.)  Slowly add the milk and vanilla.  Scrape down bowl to get all ingredients combined. Fill cupcake liners (in tins) about 2/3 full, and bake 17-20 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Take cupcakes out of muffin tin and transfer to a cooling rack.  Cool before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream

4 T (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c powdered sugar
1/4 c milk (plus a few Tablespoons to adjust consistency)
1 t pure vanilla extract

Beat butter on medium speed in a mixer with a paddle attachment until pale and creamy.  Whisk cocoa powder and powdered sugar in a separate bowl.  On low speed, add half of powders, followed directly by all the milk and vanilla.  Add the rest of powders.  If it seems too thick, add a little more milk until desired consistency is achieved.  Beat on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes before spreading on cooled cupcakes.

Top with mini robin eggs

NOTE: I pipe my frosting using a 1M tip, but you can use a knife to spread the frosting over the cupcakes.