Easy Easter Cupcakes

These "egg"-ceptional Easter cupcake ideas are super easy! Just follow the instructions to create your own Easter masterpieces that will have everyone at your Easter celebration "hopping" for joy!

My family loves Easter. Each year we have a huge outdoor Easter egg hunt followed by a treasure hunt for the adults. After braving the cold and even the snow some years, we all gather back inside for the Easter feast which always includes a buffet of Easter desserts. Cupcakes are one of my favorite treats to make because you can be so creative. And I always love using a cupcake tree for the display. The one shown in the photo to the right is available from Wilton so you can purchase it online or find it at a local Wilton retailer.

To find instructions for creating this Easter bunny tower or any of 30 unique cupcake designs by Wilton, visit their website by clicking here.

Some of the cupcakes shown in the Easter egg photo collage below (from DessertLover's Easter Cupcakes) are super easy to make and you could create them yourself if minutes.

The easiest cupcakes of all involve utilizing classic Easter peeps candy as the cupcake showpiece. Simply bake your favorite cupcakes from a boxed mix and let them cool. Mix a tub of white store-bought frosting with some green food coloring until you get a grass green color (add a few drops of color at a time, mixing as you go). Place some coconut in a zip-loc bag along with a few drops of green food coloring. Shake it around and add food coloring until you get the desired "grass" color. Sprinkle the colored coconut on top the frosting. Then add your favorite marshmallow peep shape on top the grass (e.g. yellow duck, pink or lavender rabbit, etc). Place some jelly beans or mini malted chocolate eggs in the "grass" around the peep. Voila! You've got a delightful Easter treat that everyone will love.

These fun cupcakes have been a favorite in our family for several years. To make them super easy, I personally toss some sweetened coconut with a few drops of green food coloring to make the grass base on top the cupcake (rather than piping green grass icing as shown in the photo from Wilton). Either way, these cupcakes are sure to be an Easter hit! And for the truly crafty, you can cut out pastel-colored strips of paper that are about 3/8" wide to create little Easter basket handles that run from one side of the cupcake to the other. Then each of your guests will have their own little personal Happy Easter basket!

Instructions

1) Purchase your favorite Easter themed cupcake liners either online at Amazon or at a local baking shop/craft store like Michaels. If you like to keep things easy like me, I suggest buying your favorite boxed cake mix and then bake the cupcakes in the liners according to the package directions. Cool completely on wire rack and then decorate as follows.

2) To create the grass base, you can either use coconut tinted with green as I suggested above or you can color your favorite butter-cream icing a grass green color. Then use a piping bag to pipe the grass on the top of the cupcake. If you do decide to use coconut, just frost the cakes first with a thin layer of store bought icing that goes with your cupcake flavor. While the frosting is still "wet", pat on the coconut grass.

3) The hardest part of these cupcakes is making the fondant bunnies. For this process you'll need mini bunny head cookie cutters, white fondant, and a pink and black Foodwriter edible ink pen. To make the bunny face, roll out the white fondant into a 1/8" thick sheet. Then use the mini cutters to cut-out the head-shapes and oval feet (you can use a knife to shape the feet as well). After drying the fondant for an hour, draw the pink center of the ears, the nose, mouth, and eyes of the bunny face using the edible pens as shown in the photo. Draw the pink pads on the feet as well.

4) To create the bunny arms, cut strips of 1/4" wide x 1" long strips of fondant (from the 1/8" thick rolled out piece that you already made). To create the hand shape, use your fingers to form a 1/4" round ball of fondant to make the "fingers". If needed, use a damp brush to attach the hands to the arms. Dry fondant for at least one hour prior to assembling.

5) To assemble the cupcakes, place the head at the top of the cupcake (use a jellybean or other candy to lean it against). Place the hands and feet in the appropriate places around the cupcake. Fill the center "belly" of the bunny with your favorite candies like pastel M&M's, jelly beans, or chocolate malted eggs.

Not a fan of cupcakes? You can always make Easter bunny cookies instead. Be sure to check out my Easter cookies hub! Or maybe you just don't have time to bake, you can always shop for cupcakes and cake online.

I love this Easter bunny tower because not only can you use it to display cupcakes (as shown in the introduction photo for this hub), but you can also use it to display up to 16 Easter eggs. If your kids love decorating eggs, this is a great way to display their masterpieces to the family during the big Easter celebration. Super fun and festive!