Easter Cupcakes - Simple White Cupcakes with Colored Coconut and Jelly Beans!
The Story
The youth at church host a cafe each Sunday. As a parent of several of the youth, I regularly donate baked goods for them to sell to raise funds for extra activities, mission trips and the occasional ice cream outing.
I'm not quite sure where this recipe came from. I apologize if this is your recipe and I'm not giving you credit. We needed something basic as we were rushed with the Easter services and the activities of the day. I came across this recipe and decided it would "do" for the cafe.
It turns out they were a huge hit! All the youth were raving about how good they were. They were snatched up quickly, before my kids even had a chance to try them.
We felt like we were missing out, so we decided to make them again for the small group that meets in my neighborhood. But since this batch was being sent to the home of an accomplished cook, we decided we better taste test. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes, but we squeezed out 13 to satisfy our curiosity.
They did not disappoint. Once again, they were a hit and the leader of the group said we could bake for her any time.
Our take on them is that they were light and fluffy. Not too moist, and they really let the toppings take center stage.
RECIPE - Simple White Cupcakes (Makes about 12 cupcakes)
Ingredients
Cupcakes
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
OPTIONAL TOPPINGS:
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
Food dye (green and blue)
Jelly beans
Icing
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese4 tablespoons butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, cream together sugar and butter.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
Finally, stir in the milk until the batter is smooth.
Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
Bake cupcakes for about 20 to 25 minutes in preheated oven. Cupcakes are done when they spring back to the touch.
Icing
In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and butter. Slowly add in confectioners' sugar a little bit at a time. Beat until smooth. Then add vanilla.
Coconut topping
Put coconut in a plastic baggie and drop desired amount of food color into the bag. The more color, the more saturated and vibrant the coconut will become.
We used about 8 drops of green and 3 drops of blue to get a vibrant green color as shown in the pictures.
Putting it all together
Once cupcakes are completely cooled, use an icing knife to spread icing across the top of the cupcakes. This doesn't have to be neat or perfect. You only need enough icing for your coconut to stick to.
After you've iced your cupcake, dunk it icing side down into the colored shredded coconut. Flip back and press jelly beans into the tops to make it look like they are eggs sitting in grass. Repeat until the entire batch is done.
Alternative to shredded coconut topping
If you know there are a few in your clan that don't like coconut, feel free to skip out on the coconut and decorate with sugar sprinkles instead.
Have fun decorating!
2 comments
YASSSSSSSSSS.
ReplyDeletethese look so good!
the cake look so fluffy and moist.
yummy.
thanks for sharing!
Thank you! They were fun to make and delicious to eat. ;) Do you think you'll try them (perhaps for a different holiday)?
DeleteThank you for commenting!