Easter Bird Nest Cupcakes

Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Servings: 18
Yield: 18 servings

Description

These cute bird nest cupcakes with miniature eggs are perfect for Easter. The nest is made with chocolate buttercream and decorated with chocolate sprinkles.

Ingredients

1 cup self-rising flour
2 tablespoons self-rising flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 tablespoons white sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
5 cups confectioners' sugar, or more as needed
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons milk, or more as needed
1 drop vanilla extract
3 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles, or as needed
58 mini chocolate candy-coated Easter eggs

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 18 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2 Combine 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 cup butter, sugar, eggs, and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder in a bowl. Beat with an electric blender until batter is evenly blended.
3 Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
4 Bake in the preheated oven until tops spring back when lightly pressed, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 20 minutes.
5 While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream. Beat 3/4 cup butter in a bowl with an electric blender until light and fluffy. Add 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder and confectioners' sugar alternately with 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk. Add vanilla extract. Beat frosting until it has a spreading consistency, adding more confectioners' sugar or milk as needed.
6 Transfer chocolate buttercream to a piping bag with a star tip and pipe a round nest onto each cupcake. Sprinkle nest with chocolate sprinkles and place 3 mini chocolate eggs into each nest.