The Easter Bunny is my spirit animal. I have sound reasoning for this proclamation. Firstly, he eats a balanced diet of carrots and chocolate – totally my style. Secondly, he hops around all the time burning off calories to make room for said chocolate. Thirdly, he shares his chocolate treats with others spreading happiness.
Okay, so maybe it isn’t quite sound reasoning, but I think if you are looking to a beloved holiday creature for guidance you could do worse than the big bunny. Also, if you are looking for a chocolate treat to make and share with your family and friends this Easter weekend you could do worse than these cupcakes.
These cupcakes are here to make your Easter delicious and easy. The crumb is fluffy and moist. The batter comes together easily. If you have school kids at home on holidays these chocolate cupcakes would make a great baking project, with adult supervision of course. If you have really little ones perhaps you could do the beating and the baking and then get them to help with the decorating. The hidden beauty of these cupcakes is that they are gluten free, which means everyone at the table can enjoy them. I will be bringing a big batch of these to our family Easter celebrations and watching them disappear very quickly!
Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream
Gluten free | Makes 30 small cupcakes (or 12 large cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes – baking times will vary from those listed below)
Adapted from Hummingbird Bakery’s Cake Days
Ingredients
- 70 grams butter, softened
- 200 grams caster sugar
- 100 grams light brown sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 100 grams buckwheat flour
- 100 grams brown rice flour
- 55 grams almond meal
- 50 grams cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk minus 1 tablespoon at room temperature
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and line 30 holes of three 12-cup (1/4 cup capacity) small cupcake baking tins with cupcake papers. See note.
- In a medium size mixing bowl whisk together buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl beat together butter and both sugars until pale and creamy.
- Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Beat in vanilla.
- Beat in flour mix in three additions alternating with milk and beating until just combined after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between additions.
- Spoon mixture into prepared baking tins filling each cup 2/3 full.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops spring back into place when gently pressed.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting and decorating (see below).
- Enjoy. These cupcakes will last about 3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Chocolate Buttercream
Ingredients
- 120 grams butter, softened
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 4 cups gluten free icing sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Method
- Beat butter until pale and smooth – about 3 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth and glossy. This should take about 3 minutes. Be patient and persevere because this will result in smooth, fluffy frosting that will have you begging for more.
- Spoon into piping bag and decorate as desired. Alternately spread thickly on top of cupcakes with a butter knife.
- Decorate with small candy-covered Easter eggs or other decorations.
Tell me, dear reader, how are you celebrating Easter? Anyone else identify with the Easter Bunny as their spirit animal?
