Easter Beer Hunt & Cadbury Egg Cupcakes

Yes, I know I am doing this backwards. Most bloggers have their posts coincide with upcoming holidays, not ones that have just passed. Well, call me unconventional because I like to share post-holiday news. Or lazy. Either will work.

Last Sunday marked the 8th annual Easter Beer Hunt at a friend's house. If you have never heard of Easter Beer Hunt, I pity you. Seriously, it's life changing (thanks Charlene for pointing this out). Once you have attended an EBH, you will likely do everything in your power not to miss one in the future.

This year, the gang was coming off of the high of the Arcimoto launch from the evening before (way to go, Arcimoto gang!). Many of EBH hunters were still sore from the festivities the night before and getting to see Nathan Fillion (or in my case, touch him).

Yet I digress. Here are a few of the basic tools for EBH: hammer and nail to make your necklace (imagine flair). 

Each year our fearless leaders spend much of Easter morning hiding beers around a very large yard, which close friends and family then spend the remainder of the day searching out for achievement awards. 

Remember it's not a competition, it's an exhibition. 

In keeping with the holiday spirit, my foodie contribution this year were Cadbury Egg Cupcakes. During my usual weekly hunting, I discovered the recipe from My Baking Addiction. Using a Chocolate Cupcake recipe from Joy of Baking as the base and a Buttercream Frosting recipe from My Baking Addiction, I whipped up two batches of these sweet babies to share with the hunting crew.

Each cupcake held inside of it a mini cadbury egg, adding to the insane amount of sweetness. I had some extra batter left so I made a few small star cupcakes without any hidden treats inside. Next time around, I might use the mini-butterfinger eggs or other flavor to hide inside, changing up the flavor matrix a bit. These are definitely holiday-friendly, easily modified for whichever holiday is coming up next. Enjoy! 

Cadbury Egg Cupcakes 

From: My Baking Addiction

• 24 paper cupcake liners
• Batter for 24 cupcakes (see recipe below)
• 48 Mini Cadbury Creme Eggs (24 frozen) You’ll use the frozen ones inside the cupcake batter. Freezing the eggs keeps them from completely vanishing inside the baked cake.
• 1 batch of buttercream frosting (see recipe below)
• yellow dye or gel
• Large Round piping tip or snip the end off of a piping bag.

Scoop batter into paper liner ⅔ of the way full. Place one frozen Mini Cadbury Creme Egg into the middle of each cupcake. Use a spatula to spread the batter over the egg.

Bake according to the recipe you are using. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

While your cupcakes are cooking, make your buttercream. My favorite recipe can be found within this Fundamentals Buttercream Frosting Post.

Remove about 1 cup of buttercream from the mixing bowl and dye it yellow.

Assemble your piping bag fitted with a large tip and pipe a large circle around the perimeter of the cupcake.

Fill in the center of the circle with the yellow buttercream and top with a Mini Cadbury Cream Egg.


Chocolate Cupcakes 
From: Joy of Baking

• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 cup boiling hot water
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter, or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

 

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16 - 20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. (Do not over bake or the cupcakes will be dry.)  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 

Buttercream Frosting

From: My Baking Addiction

• 4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• pinch of fine grain sea salt
• 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.

Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.