Chocolate & Marshmallow, Easter Egg Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes, filled with a sweet marshmallow ‘egg’, topped with fondant icing and easter egg decorations.

Yesterday was the easter cake and coffee morning at work, so I wanted to bake something extra-specially eastery to bring along. I just couldn’t decide what to make, until I had some inspiration when really hungry before lunch! I was thinking about how cool it could be to try and make a cupcake with an egg centre, a bit like a creme egg.

I’ve used a marshmallow icing on cupcakes before, and thought it would taste great and give the consistency I needed for the egg filling to look right, so that is what I have used here.

I decided I wanted to decorate the cakes to look like old fashioned decorated eggs, so I’ve used a fondant icing base, and decorated it with the typical stripes and spots you see on decorated eggs.

The coffee morning was really fun and there were some amazing cakes. Here is a picture of my friend’s white chocolate and coconut cakes with chick decorations, made with mini eggs and yellow fondant icing, how cute! And really simple to do!

My cakes went down very well, I got lots of compliments on them, and everyone was really excited when they bit into them and revealed the egg centre.

So if you want to impress your friends and family with some Easter treats, then this is the recipe for you!

Ingredients: Makes 20 Cupcakes

The Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 150g Butter
• 150g Caster Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 150g Self Raising Flour
• 50ml Milk

The Marshmallow Filling:

• 150g Granulated Sugar
• 40ml Water
• 2 Egg Whites
• 1tsp Orange Food Colouring

The Decoration:

• 300g White Fondant Icing
• Writing Icing, in a few different colours

To Make:

The Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a cupcake tray with decorative cupcake cases.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy – this should take about 5 minutes, then fold in the eggs one at a time, with the cocoa powder. Once combined, fold in the flour and milk, until the mixture is smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, until 2/3 full. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until cooked though. Leave to cool on a wire rack before icing.

The Marshmallow Filling:

Combine the sugar and water in a pan and cook over a medium heat until the temperature reaches 120°C on a sugar thermometer (or until it has been bubbling for about 5 minutes).

While the sugar syrup is cooking, whisk together the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Then continue to whisk, as you pour in the hot sugar syrup.

Continue whisking for a further few minutes, until the mixture in smooth and glossy.

Transfer 1/3 of the mixture to a separate bowl and stir though the food colouring, until it is an egg yolk orange colour.

Assembling:

Cut a 3cm wide hole into the top of each cupcake.

Spoon 1tsp of white marshmallow into the hole, then use a spoon to create a hollow in the middle of the white marshallow, and add 1/2 a tsp of the orange marshmallow.

Roll out the fondant icing to about 1cm thickness. Cut out 20 disks of about the same size as the tops of the cupcakes (I used the plastic container for the cupcake cases as a guide!).

Spread a tin layer of white marshmallow over the top of each cupcake, and then stick on the fondant icing disk, pressing it down at the edges, to completely cover the cake.

Use the writing icing to create easter egg patterns on the top of each cupcake – I’ve mainly used zig-zag lines and dots.

Serve!