If you have guests over for an Easter breakfast, brunch, or a coffee in the afternoon there is normally a lot to do. You got to prepare food, decorate the place, hide eggs or small gifts, and in the end also make yourself presentable ;P In cases like that, it’s good to know how to save some time here and there. For example, instead of preparing several different desserts for your guests, you make some simple cupcakes. They can all look different and taste different but are all made with the same basic recipe. If you want to know how to do that, you should keep reading ;P
In the past, we often made brunch for Easter. With a lot of food – hot and cold dishes as well as a big selection of desserts. Preparing all of that took several hours each time, of course. Especially with the desserts, I had to show off a bit ’cause everyone was expecting a variety of sweet stuff to nibble on… so I normally I made several sweet pastries, desserts in glasses, and even cakes to put a nice selection of food on the table. Back in the day I was ambitious and always wanted to offer as much as possible. Nowadays, ambition has given way to pragmatism and I only put in as much work as necessary tbh ;P
That does not mean you can’t expect a certain selection of food on the buffet if you are invited for Easter. I’ve learned some tricks over the years to save time and to still offer a lot without actually doing a lot ;P People that are baking a lot probably know all the tricks already. Minimum effort, maximum result. I actually learned that from my economics teacher at school. At least one thing I learned at school that helps in life ;P
Exhibit A – Cupcakes. All of the small cakes in the pictures have been prepared with one simple batter and buttercream only. Basically, they are all the same. With a few small adjustments here and there and different decorations, however, they turn into a variety of cupcakes for your guests. Nobody will notice they are all more or less the same. Good, isn’t ?! ;)
Well.. the cupcakes are actually not exactly the same. You guessed that already I assume. The basic batter is the same, but half of the batter got some chopped chocolate added, the other half some chopped nuts. The fillings are also different – some of the cupcakes got a jam filling, others nougat cream or caramel sauce. Well, the decorations are slightly different as well as you can see ;) In the recipe, I explain a bit more in detail what to do for each cupcake. For some of you probably not a new trick but I think it’s very practical if you want to create a nice selection of cupcakes without much effort ;P
The cupcakes with the sugar carrots and walnuts are actually Carrot Cake Cupcakes. You can create something similar looking with the recipe below – just not actual carrot cake cupcakes. Still delicious though ;P I would suggest filling those cupcakes with caramel sauce and chopped walnuts. Also a very easy adaption of the basic recipe.
If you prefer to bake something like brioche or sweet braided loaves you can work with a similar “trick”. Make the dough from this easy Sweet Braided Loaf recipe (either with raisins or without) – if you make double the amount you can make a sweet braided loaf, brioche buns, filled Easter bread and much more at the same time. Only minor adaptions were necessary ;)
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the cupcakes:
3 tbsp. butter, melted
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2/3 cup (170ml) milk, at room temperature
2 medium eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 2/3 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Optional for the batter:
1.8 oz. (50g) chopped nuts or chocolate
For the vanilla buttercream:
2/3 cup (170g) butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups (290g) confectioners‘ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-4 tbsp. heavy cream
if necessary, some orange food coloring
For the filling/decoration:
1-2 tsp. jam/compote per cupcake
1-2 tsp. nougat cream or chocolate ganache per cupcake (alternative)
small chocolate Easter Bunnies
small chocolate Easter Eggs
small jelly Easter Eggs
edible paper grass*
some crushed Oreos (without the filling)
Für die Cupcakes:
3 EL Butter, geschmolzen
3 EL Pflanzenöl
170ml Milch, Zimmertemperatur
2 Eier (M), Zimmertemperatur
2 TL Vanille Extrakt
200g Zucker
210g Mehl (Type 550)
1 1/4 TL Backpulver
1/2 TL Salz
Optional für den Teig:
50g gehackte Nüsse oder Schokolade
Für die Vanille Buttercreme:
170g weiche Butter
290g Puderzucker
1 TL Vanille Extrakt
2-4 EL Sahne
ggf. orange Lebensmittelfarbe
Für die Füllung/Dekoration:
1-2 TL Marmelade/Kompott pro Cupcake
1-2 TL Nougatcreme oder Ganache pro Cupcake (Alternative)
kleine Schoko Osterhasen
kleine Schoko Ostereier
kleine Gelee Ostereier
Gras aus Esspapier*
einige zerbröselte Oreos (ohne Füllung)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
2. Add the melted butter together with the oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract to a large bowl and mix until well combined. Add the sugar and mix until you get a pale and fluffy mixture. Mix the flour with baking powder, and salt and gradually add to the bowl – mix in until just combined. If you like, you can fold in either chopped nuts or chopped chocolate as well here to customize the cupcakes. You can add that to the whole batter or half of the batter (all optional).
3. Divide the batter between the paper liners and bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Take out of the oven, remove from the muffin tin and let cool down completely on a wire rack.
4. For the buttercream add the butter to a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners‘ sugar and vanilla extract and mix slowly first, then on high speed for several minutes until you get a creamy and fluffy texture. Gradually add some heavy cream to get a consistency that can be piped easily. If you want to make cupcakes with carrots (see photos), you should color some of the buttercream with orange food coloring.
5. The cupcakes can now be decorated and customized in various ways. You can hollow out all (or just some) of the cupcakes with a cupcake corer* or knife and add a filling. This can be jam, compote, nougat cream, or a chocolate ganache. You can then pipe some buttercream on top with a round or star tip and further decorate the cupcakes with Easter bunnies, Easter eggs, edible paper grass, and/or some chopped chocolate. Take a look at the photos for this and you’ll see what combination works ;) If you want to decorate cupcakes with carrots peeking out, you should first coat the cupcakes with a thin layer of buttercream or nougat cream, then press them into crushed Oreos, pipe on some orange buttercream with a round nozzle, and then finish the decoration with some green edible paper.
2. Die geschmolzene Butter zusammen mit Öl, Milch, Eiern und Vanille Extrakt in einer großen Schüssel verrühren. Den Zucker dazugeben und zu einer hellen Masse aufschlagen. Das Mehl mit Backpulver und Salz vermischen und dann in mehreren Portionen zur Schüssel dazugeben und nur kurz unterrühren. Wer mag, kann hier entweder noch gehackte Nüsse oder gehackte Schokolade unterheben, um die Cupcakes anzupassen – das kann der ganze Teig sein, oder nur die Hälfte davon (optional).
3. Den Teig auf die Papierförmchen verteilen und dann für etwa 20-24 Minuten backen – mit einem Zahnstocher testen, ob noch Teig kleben bleibt und die Cupcakes erst herausnehmen, wenn dieser sauber herauskommt. Die Cupcakes aus dem Muffinblech lösen und auf einem Kuchengitter komplett auskühlen lassen.
4. Für die Buttercreme die weiche Butter in einer Schüssel hell und luftig aufschlagen. Puderzucker und Vanille Extrakt dazugeben und erst langsam, dann auf höchster Stufe mehrere Minuten luftig aufschlagen. Die Sahne nach und nach dazugeben – mit der Sahne reguliert man die Konsistenz der Masse ein wenig. Wer Cupcakes mit Karotten machen möchte (s. Fotos), sollte einen Teil der Buttercreme mit oranger Lebensmittelfarbe einfärben.
5. Die Cupcakes können jetzt auf verschiedene Art und Weise dekoriert und angepasst werden. Man kann alle (oder nur einen Teil) der Cupcakes mit einem Cupcake Corer* oder Messer ein wenig aushöhlen und mit einer Füllung versehen – das kann z.B. Marmelade, Kompott, Nougatcreme oder eine Ganache sein. Die Buttercreme kann man dann mit einer runden oder zackigen Tülle aufspritzen und die Cupcakes mit Osterhasen, Ostereiern, Gras aus Esspapier und/oder gehackter Schokolade weiter dekorieren. Schaut euch einfach die Fotos dazu an, dann seht ihr, was gemeint ist. Wer Cupcakes mit “Karotten” dekorieren möchte, sollte die Cupcakes erst mit einer dünnen Schicht Buttercreme oder Nougatcreme bestreichen, dann in zerbröselte Oreos drücken, mit einer runden Tülle orange Buttercreme aufspritzen und dann mit etwas grünes Esspapier fertig dekorieren.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Easy to make Easter Cupcake Ideas
- Prep Time: 00:30
- Cook Time: 00:24
- Total Time: 01:00
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Cupcakes
- Cuisine: America
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
If you want to serve some cupcakes for Easter you can use one basic recipe and turn it into many different decorated cupcakes. Easy peasy ;)
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
3 tbsp. butter, melted
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2/3 cup (170ml) milk, at room temperature
2 medium eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 2/3 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Optional for the batter:
1.8 oz. (50g) chopped nuts or chocolate
For the vanilla buttercream:
2/3 cup (170g) butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups (290g) confectioners‘ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2–4 tbsp. heavy cream
if necessary, some orange food coloring
For the filling/decoration:
1–2 tsp. jam/compote per cupcake
1–2 tsp. nougat cream or chocolate ganache per cupcake (alternative)
small chocolate Easter Bunnies
small chocolate Easter Eggs
small jelly Easter Eggs
edible paper grass*
some crushed Oreos (without the filling)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175°C). Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners and set aside. Melt the butter for the batter and let cool down a bit.
2. Add the melted butter together with the oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract to a large bowl and mix until well combined. Add the sugar and mix until you get a pale and fluffy mixture. Mix the flour with baking powder, and salt and gradually add to the bowl – mix in until just combined. If you like, you can fold in either chopped nuts or chopped chocolate as well here to customize the cupcakes. You can add that to the whole batter or half of the batter (all optional).
3. Divide the batter between the paper liners and bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Take out of the oven, remove from the muffin tin and let cool down completely on a wire rack.
4. For the buttercream add the butter to a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners‘ sugar and vanilla extract and mix slowly first, then on high speed for several minutes until you get a creamy and fluffy texture. Gradually add some heavy cream to get a consistency that can be piped easily. If you want to make cupcakes with carrots (see photos), you should color some of the buttercream with orange food coloring.
5. The cupcakes can now be decorated and customized in various ways. You can hollow out all (or just some) of the cupcakes with a cupcake corer* or knife and add a filling. This can be jam, compote, nougat cream, or a chocolate ganache. You can then pipe some buttercream on top with a round or star tip and further decorate the cupcakes with Easter bunnies, Easter eggs, edible paper grass, and/or some chopped chocolate. Take a look at the photos for this and you’ll see what combination works ;) If you want to decorate cupcakes with carrots peeking out, you should first coat the cupcakes with a thin layer of buttercream or nougat cream, then press them into crushed Oreos, pipe on some orange buttercream with a round nozzle, and then finish the decoration with some green edible paper.
Notes
Enjoy baking!
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
