Easter Egg Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream - lemon infused yellow cake topped with the most dreamy vanilla frosting and a cute candy nest.
It's almost Easter, can you believe it! We went to an Easter egg hunt at our church yesterday. It's so sweet to see all the children running around collecting their colorful eggs. We had a great turn out, so there were a ton of kids. My son and daughter have passed the hunting age, so we helped my five year old goddaughter collect her eggs. We live in Georgia and luckily the weather was absolutely perfect. Blue skies and temperature in the low 70s!
What are easter egg cupcakes?
These Easter Egg Cupcakes are a delicious and festive treat to add to your holiday table this Sunday. A moist lemon cupcake with lemon curd filling, topped with Swiss-Meringue buttercream, green coconut and colorful jellybeans.
I used to make wedding and party cakes as a little home business years ago and these lemon cupcakes were very popular with my customers. The Swiss meringue buttercream was also everybody's favorite!
I've included the step-by-step photo instructions on how to make Easter Egg Cupcakes in this post which you'll see as you scroll down.
How to make easter egg cupcakes
Now for the step-by-step instructions...
I'm letting you in on a little secret which I never told my customers when I had a cake business. These cupcakes are made with a yellow cake mix, prepared according to package instructions. But you also add a secret ingredient which makes them so moist and lemony. The secret ingredient is... drumroll please...
The secret ingredient is lemon oil
Lemon oil! The lemon oil is what makes these cupcakes extra special. It's available at most gourmet or health food grocery stores. You can also order it online. I found it on Amazon here: Lemon Oil for Baking (affiliate link).
What is I don't have lemon oil? Don't worry, you can substitute lemon extract and they will still be delicious! You can add some lemon zest to add an extra lemon kick!
How to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Making this buttercream is a little tricky but totally do-able! Let me break it down for you.
1) First you measure your egg whites and sugar into a stainless steel bowl. I use my mixer bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk by hand constantly for one and a half minutes. The first photo shows the egg whites before heating and the second photo shows the egg whites/sugar mixture after whisking over the heat.
2) Next, beat on medium high with an electric mixture for 10-20 minutes or until bowl is cool to the touch.
3) Set mixer to low and add the butter. When all of the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer to medium and beat until fluffy. Turn mixer down to low and add vanilla. Mix until smooth and creamy.
How to decorate Easter Egg Cupcakes
Color sweetened coconut with green food coloring. Then assemble your cupcakes. Fill the cupcakes with a little bit of lemon curd. You can do this by punching a small hole in the top of the cupcake with the bottom of a pastry tip (such as a 1M). Scoop in a generous teaspoon full of lemon curd, then replace the cupcake top. Pipe the Swiss-Meringue buttercream onto the cupcake using a 1M pastry tip.
Add green coconut and jellybeans on top such as these Starburst Sweet & Sour Jellybeans.
How to make green coconut grass
Pour 1 cup coconut flakes into a medium bowl. Add a few drops of green food coloring. Stir until completely combined. Add more green food coloring, if desired. Use on top of cupcakes.
Serve for dessert at your Easter celebration. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoy making these Easter Egg Cupcakes as much as I do.
Happy Baking!
Lise
Tools for success
500 Standard Size White Cupcake Liners
Note: The above items are affiliate links.
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Easter Egg Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 box yellow cake mix prepared according to package instructions
- 1 teaspoon food grade lemon oil or lemon extract
For the Swiss meringue buttercream
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 5 large egg whites
- 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract use clear vanilla flavoring if you want it pure white, otherwise it will be beige
For the filling and topping
- 1 jar store bought lemon curd
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes colored with green food coloring
- ½ cup jelly beans (I used Starburst Sweet and Sour Jellybeans)
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 20 muffin pan cups with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Prepare cake batter according to package. Stir in lemon oil. Spoon into prepared pans. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely.
For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Meanwhile prepare your frosting. In the bowl of a standing mixer, thoroughly whisk together sugar and egg whites.
- Set the bowl over a pot of boiling water. Whisking constantly, heat the mixture for 1.5 minutes. Don't ever stop whisking or you will have scrambled eggs. Remove from heat.
- Place bowl back in the mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until mixture forms a stiff meringue and the bowl comes to room temperature, 10-20 minutes.
- Stop the mixer and replace the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment.
- Set mixer to low and add the butter. When all of the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer to medium and beat until fluffy. Turn mixer down to low and add vanilla. Mix until smooth and creamy.
- Buttercream troubleshooting: If the buttercream is soupy or too liquidy after combining the butter and vanilla, don't worry. It just needs to be chilled for a bit. Try putting it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. Then beat it on high again until fluffy and glossy. It should have a slight sheen to it. It's beautiful frosting!
- Buttercream storage tips: Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for 2 days at room temperature or 10 days in the refrigerator.
For the filling and topping
- Fill the cupcakes with a little bit of lemon curd. You can do this by punching a small hole in the top of the cupcake with the bottom of a pastry tip (such as a 1M). Scoop in a generous teaspoon full of lemon curd, then replace the cupcake top. Then scoop buttercream into a large pastry bag fitted with a 1M pastry tip. Pipe buttercream onto cupcakes. Add green coconut (simply add green food coloring to coconut flakes and stir). Top with jellybeans. Serve immediately or store covered for up to 2 days at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. (Note: You can color your coconut green by adding a few drops of green food coloring, then stir until completely combined.)
Video
Nutrition
You might also like the Best Lemon Cake from Scratch
Or you might like one of my most popular posts, Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Here's a great recipe if you're still craving a lemony desesrt. Try Honey Lemon Tartlets with Flowers
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All text and images © Lise Ode for Mom Loves Baking. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate. This post may contain affiliate links.
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