More Easter fun

My little helper

Lilia is on vacation...she started Thursday, and won't go back until the 16th. This seems like a crazy amount of time, particularly since John and Liam only get Monday off for Easter at the college. So what else should a mom and daughter do? We watched My Little Ponies, and made cupcakes. She even let me brush her hair and put it up, which I have to tell you is something so rare it needs to be marked in a memory book.  Seriously- the girl hates her hair touched (and I don't blame her- she has perfect curls that make brushing a pain, literally.)  She loves baking, and I don't do it nearly enough with her- mainly because I'm trying to lose weight, not gain it.  And since simple carbs are just one of those things I'm supposed to keep at a minimum...

I decided to make Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes.  I saw it on Pinterest and knew I had to do it, just once.  I didn't follow any particular recipe- there was at least three I saw on Pinterest (and brúlee and brownies, omg drooling...) so I used tips from all of them and used my own recipes.

I started with a basic chocolate cupcake recipe, adding cadbury mini creme eggs :

The Completed Cupcake...so yummy!

1 stick Butter, room temperature

1 1/4 C. Sugar (I use organic cane sugar- I love that slight molasses flavor)

2 Eggs, room temperature

3/4 C. Flour

1 t. Baking Powder

1/4 t. Salt

1/2 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1/2 C. Milk (I used 2%)

1 t. Vanilla

12 mini cadbury eggs (frozen at least 2 hours)

12-14 cupcakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, then turn it down to 350 just prior to baking- line muffin pan with heavy duty muffin liners (I can't tell you how much of a difference this makes.)

1. Beat the butter with mixer until it is soft and creamy, then add sugar. Beat about 3 minutes.

2. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until they are well combined.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, sift out any lumps and whisk them to incorporate them. Combine milk and vanilla.

4. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar and beat it just to combine. Add half of the liquids, scrape down bowl and beat to combine. Continue adding the dry and wet ingredients alternately making sure you end with the dry stuff.

5. Fill muffin tins 1/2 of the way, stick in the frozen mini eggs and cover until each muffin tin is 2/3 of the way full.   Bake for about 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool.

When cooled, I used a basic buttercream recipe:

1 stick of butter, room temperature
Powdered sugar
Milk (I used skim this time)
Vanilla (about 1 tsp)

Cream your sugar until light and fluffy, add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk alternatively, and slowly until you get your desired consistency.  Not too thick, and not to watery.  Save about 1/4 of the frosting if you want to make the cupcake look like a creme egg.  Frost with the white frosting, and then mix the remaining 1/4 of the frosting with yellow food dye.  Add a "yolk" and voila! A deliciously sinful Cadbury creme egg cupcake.

Thank goodness I've only eaten one, and half of the cupcakes are gone.  Between cupcakes, easter candy, and the girl scout cookies that arrived from my niece...it's gonna be a tough few weeks of me versus the scale.  I think I need some extra treadmill time...