Peepin’ It Real

March is hogging all the holidays in a manner that would make Rich Uncle Pennybags from Monopoly proud, so sharp shifting of gears from all things green to all things yellow and pastel for Easter here on the blog. I’ve been known to indulge in the occasional Peep or multiple handfuls of Cadbury mini eggs (the eggs-citement is real)…so I decided I wanted to attempt to make cupcakes in the shape of chicks to celebrate the sneezing spring season.

Pollen allergies aside, spring has definitely sprung in my kitchen. Since I consider myself somewhat of a baking eggs-pert, I wanted to try making shaped cupcakes again after my first attempt to make ghost cupcakes failed big time back in October (you know, fall, the season where everything doesn’t make you sneeze and the temperature is perfect). I’m eggs-tremely happy to report these: 1. Look like chicks and not shapeless blobs (also known as ghosts, October’s mascot), 2. Are so cute they make me give less of a cluck about how hot it’s getting outside, and 3. Are designed in such a manner that they have inspired a basket full of terrible Easter-related puns…it’s not even bunny how many I’ve got. I apologize for nothing.

To make these, just use your favorite cupcake and frosting recipe (I’ve included my recipe below for yellow cupcakes with a Swiss meringue buttercream). Alright, no fowl play here, let’s hop to it!

Once you’ve got your cake batter ready to roll, place cupcake liners in a muffin tin–the key here is to fill them only halfway full. Then take either marbles, pie weights, or piping tips, and place them about 2/3 of the way up on each side of the cupcake liners like above. I tried one with pie weights and the rest with upside down piping tips, both yielded the same results- cupcakes that kept their shape and mostly looked like mushrooms when you turned them upside down (Earth Day cupcake idea unlocked). Make sure these chickadees cool completely before you frost them.

Now, the plot chickens…time to get decorating! Once you have your frosting made, take a very small portion aside and dye it black for the eyes. You can also use black sprinkles if you have them (consider the shock I felt when I realized that was literally the only type of sprinkle not in my massive collection; some bunny hold me). Dye the rest yellow, and load a piping bag with a large round tip (I used a #12) and pipe the yellow all over the cupcake before smoothing with an angled spatula. Pour yellow sanding sugar into a bowl, and plop your cupcake into it while gently swirling around to coat. Load your black frosting into a bag with a small round tip (I used a #3) and pipe little dots for the eyes. To finish, you can use orange M&M’s, orange Reese’s, or whatever other orange circular candy you want (I’m sure there are many, but I am only a connoisseur of chocolate candy). Place the beak below the eyes and two of the cutest lil’ feetsies at the bottom. Peep the video tutorial to see the process in action:

Truly, this would be a hoppy family decorating activity, and these are really sinchy to make and super cute (as well as delicious to eat). No need to go off the peep end when you’ve got a batch of these chicks to take to your Easter feast! I hope everyone has an eggs-ceptional Easter Sunday this week. Don’t worry, be hoppy…you almost make it to the end of the most massive terrible pun dump I’ve ever done in a blog (I saved the best for last below). ‘Til next time, my fellow eaters!

Recipe and Instructions