Easter nest cupcakes

Make your Easter table super delicious with these lemon curd filled Easter nest cupcake recipe.

Nothing feels more spring like to me than a lovely fresh lemon sponge, and this super easy lemon cupcake recipe has an added zing of lemon zest in the centre to give you a spring in your step.

This recipe makes 6 cupcakes, the perfect amount for a socially distanced ‘rule of six’ gathering!

You’ll need:

• 6 cupcake cases and a cupcake/muffin tin
• 3 x icing bags and 3 nozzles
• A freestanding food mixer or hand held electric whisk with beater attachment
• 85g self raising flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 85g caster sugar
• 85g margarine
• 1 tsp lemon essence
• 6 tsp lemon curd
• 150g icing sugar
• 75g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• Sprinkles and mini ‘mini eggs’ (I got mine from The Range)

To make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 6
2. Add your margarine and caster sugar to the bowl of your freestanding mixer and beat until combined, light and fluffy.
3. Next sift your flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl.
4. Add 1 egg to the bowl of your mixer along with 1 spoonful of flour, beat to combine.
5. Repeat with the second egg and the lemon essence, and then gradually add the remaining flour beating until the mix is just together, light and fluffy.
6. Using a table spoon, spoon one small spoonful of the cake batter mix into your cupcake cases making sure the batter is level.
7. Now add 1 tsp of lemon curd to the centre of each cupcake case and then cover with the remaining batter.
8. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 16 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

For the buttercream icing:

1. Whilst the cupcakes are baking make your buttercream – start by beating the unsalted butter in your freestanding mixer until light and creamy.
2. Add 1 tsp of vanilla essence to your butter and beat.
3. Sift your icing sugar and then add gradually to your mixer until all combined and your icing is light, fluffy and pale.
4. Colour your icing – I separated my icing into 3 portions and used tiny amounts of gel food colouring to create pastel pink, yellow and blue icing.
5. Choose your nozzles – I used an open star tip, a closed star tip and a basket tip for my cupcakes to create the nests.
6. Ice your cakes by icing circles on the top of your cakes to create nests and then fill with your mini ‘mini eggs’

Ta-Da! You’ve made your own beautiful Easter nest cupcakes!

Best enjoyed with the people you’ve missed seeing, and a cup of tea – or something more festive!