Easter eggs stash cupcakes

Easter Sunday could possibly be my favorite day of the year. I love getting together with family, eating delicious food and I love that there’s always flowers involved. Maybe it’s just me embellishing memories, but I feel like it’s always sunny on Easter morning. When I realized that we all would have to spend this holiday in quarantine this year, I was super bummed. But let’s try to make it fun regardless, shall we? It’ll be an extra cozy edition of Easter.

Easter + cozy = chocolate cupcakes!

These chocolate cupcakes are deliciously rich, featuring both pieces of milk chocolate and cocoa powder. That’s right, they are double chocolate cupcakes. They are topped with a simple buttercream frosting, which can be any color under the rainbow. And it only gets better once you bite into them; the center is filled with little candy eggs! These would be a great alternative to the traditional Easter chocolate bunny or simply something fun to bake at home on Easter weekend. I made sure to use simple ingredients that you either already have at home or that you can easily substitute. That way, nobody has to do an extra run to the grocery store. Stay home, stay safe. Check out the Extra Tips section to find out how you can replace some of the ingredients.

Extra tips:

• You can use the chocolate of your choice; semi-sweet chocolate, dark or milk chocolate, a chocolate bar... The possibilities are endless. Just make sure that you chop it in small pieces so that it can melt with the cocoa powder and the hot water.
• If you don’t have enough sugar, you can do ½ cup of granulated sugar and ½ cup of brown sugar.
• If you don’t have buttermilk, you can add a tablespoon of white vinegar to the amount of milk that you need and let it sit for a few minutes. It’s that simple! You can also use sour cream or plain yogurt instead of the buttermilk.
• For the oil, you can either use vegetable oil or canola oil.
• If you don’t have vanilla extract, you can always use another extract of your choice; almond, orange, etc. Just remember it will alter the taste of the cupcakes a little bit, and the quantity should be adjusted depending on how strong the extract you’re using is.
• For the candy eggs that go inside the cupcakes, you can pretty much use any candy you want; small chocolates, mini M&M’s, Skittles... even sprinkles. Just use whatever you have on hand.

• When making cupcakes, it’s easier to use paper cups instead of silicone cups. Cupcakes are softer than muffins, and the paper cup will hold the cupcake together as you’re decorating it.
• When making the frosting, go slowly. The quantities written here are what I used, but it can change depending on the temperature of your ingredients, the brand you use and even how you measure them. Add everything little by little, especially the milk and the powdered sugar.
• The frosting needs quite a bit of whisking, but too much whisking will warm the frosting and it will become runny. If that happens, just pop it in the fridge for a couple minutes. Listen to what your frosting is telling you!
  

I truly hope that these cupcakes can bring a little joy to your Easter celebrations this year. It’ll be different for sure, but sometimes different can be good. Enjoy being at home, indulge in some self-care, feel grateful, and – why not – eat alllllll the chocolate.

Happy Easter everyone.

With all the love,