How To Make: Easter Bunny Cupcakes

The other week I popped into Gail's on London's Exmouth Market and spotted these Easter Bunny cupcakes and fell in a big sugary puddle of love. So enamoured was I, that I thought I'd give them a go myself.

Mine are much more rustic - being home baked, and all - and I switched Gail's shortbread ears for gingerbread because I prefer the flavour and it's so cold in London at the moment it feels more like Christmas than Easter.

For the cake, I used a simple sponge recipe - thought I should probably have made a bit more. I think my cupcakes are 50-50 buttercream icing to cake. Sugar rush AHEAD.

Print the recipe.

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the ears:

gingerbread

175g plain flour (plus a little extra for rolling)

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground ginger

60g butter

85g light brown sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp golden syrup

icing

20ml cold water

Royal icing sugar

Pink food colouring

For the cupcakes:

sponge

120g butter

120g caster sugar

2 eggs

1½ tsp vanilla extract

120g self-raising flour

2 tbsp milk

butter cream icing

150g butter

300g icing sugar

Equipment (all available at John Lewis)

Mixing bowls

Scales

Stand mixer

Metal spoon

Measuring spoons

Biscuit sheet

Greaseproof paper

Muffin tin

Cookie cutter (or equipment that'll help you make some ears)

Muffin cases

Palette knife

Piping set

Instructions

1. Let's start with the ears by sifting the flour, bicarb soda, ginger and cinnamon into a mixing bowl.
2. Cut the butter up into little cubes and rub into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
3. Crack the egg into a mug and beat in the golden syrup with a fork.
4. Using a stand mixer or a spoon and lots of elbow grease, add the eggs to the flour mixture and beat until it forms a soft dough.
5. Wrap the mixture in cling film and put in the fridge.
6. While the ear dough is cooling down (there's a sentence I never thought I'd write), let's start on the cupcake sponge by turning your oven on to 180°C/350°F and lining your muffin tray with muffin cases.
7. Then, using your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together.
8. Once the butter mixture is pale, slowly beat in the eggs and the vanilla extract. Don't be too hasty!
9. Now, using a big-ass metal spoon fold in the sifted flour until you get a nice smooth paste. Add the milk too, but be gentle.
10. Spoon evenly into your muffin cases (a little under half full should work a treat) and pop them in the oven for 10-15 minutes. They should be a golden brownish on top and a skewer should go in and out with ease. Leave them to cool in the tray for 10 minutes then remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.
11. While these guys are a-cooking and a-cooling, flour a clean surface and grab your chilled ear dough. Roll out the dough until it's about 5mm thick and cut into ear patterns. I used a petit-four case, but you can use anything you have at hand to make an ear shape. Perhaps a ruler and a shot glass? Go crazy.
12. Place your ears on greaseproof paper and pop them in your already heated oven for about ten minutes - or until a nice golden brown. Watch carefully so you can do better than me: my bunnies are a little singed. Leave them to cool on the greaseproof paper.
13. It's easy-peasy buttercream icing time. Using your stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth then stir in the icing sugar with a spatula or spoon (otherwise it blows all over the place), then beat it again with the mixer until all beautiful and fluffy.
14. Spoon the icing onto the cooled down cupcakes and spread to the rim of the muffin case with a palette knife - I started with a little each time and layered it up, but go for the Full Monty if you're feeling confident.
15. By now your ears should be cool enough to ice, so let's get to it. Put the cold water in a bowl and gradually stir in the royal icing sugar until it reaches the consistency of toothpaste.
16. Fill your piping bag some of the mixture and decorate by outlining the edge of each first then flooding. There are loads of online tutorials for this technique.
17. Mix a few drops of the pink food colouring into the remaining royal icing mixture and repeat the process for the inside of the ears.
18. Carefully press your biscuits into the cupcakes, admire your handy work and dig in.

Print the recipe.

With thanks to Tate & Lyle for the supplying the sugar from their new range and Gail's Artisan Bakery for the inspiration.

This recipe was also posted on i am not a celebrity.