Easy Creme Egg Cupcakes

These cupcakes are a great idea if you want to do some baking and whip something up quickly for Easter.  They are really easy to make, yet oh so decadent.  I baked mine with mini Easter eggs hidden inside them, but you can leave them out if you like – just skip over this part in the recipe.

Makes 12.

Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 – 5 teaspoons cocoa
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup oil (sunflower or canola)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons vinegar (white or malt)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
12 mini Easter eggs (optional)

Buttercream and Decoration:
125g butter softened
2 ½ cups icing sugar, sifted
2-3 tablespoons hot water (warm icing makes the colour take better)
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
food colouring (optional)
6 Creme eggs

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190°C.  Line a 12 hole muffin tin with baking cups.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl with a fork.  Add the oil to the dry ingredients, but don’t stir.
In a small bowl, mix together the water, vinegar and vanilla essence.  Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly with a fork.
Fill the baking cups ¾ of the way full with the mixture.  Place a mini Easter egg into each muffin cup so that it is just covered by the cupcake mixture.   Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream, cream butter in or with a mixer until pale. On a low speed add icing sugar alternating with hot water and vanilla essence. Continue to beat until light and fluffy or until it’s reached a consistency you are happy with. If you want coloured buttercream, add a few drops of food colouring and mix through.
Pipe a circle of buttercream around the outside of the top of each cupcake (use your favourite piping tip or simply make a piping bag out of a snap-lock bag and snip off one of the corners).  Cut the Creme eggs in half along the join.  Place a Creme egg half on top of each cupcake in the middle of the circle of buttercream.