Robin Egg Nest Cupcakes

For Easter this year, I decided to make these fun cupcakes as a treat! They're pretty self-explanatory, but here's how to make them.

What You'll Need:

• cake mix
• shredded coconut
• frosting
• food dye
• cupcake papers
• robin eggs

I used a box cake mix and made cream cheese frosting, but you can do whatever works for you. Also feel free to use something else besides robin eggs if malted milk balls aren't your thing. I happened to have some on hand (ha ha ha.) and they're the best combination (in my opinion) of colour and complementary flavor.

DO NOT USE the cupcake papers shown in the photo. They have a strong, chemical smell (I'm guessing from the dye) to them that will probably carry over into the flavor of the cupcakes. I ended up using my trusted Reynolds liners, and liked the result better than I would have with the green liners.

Mix up your cake batter (make sure you make any adjustments for elevation if necessary) and line your muffin tin.

Make sure your cupcakes are 100% cooled before frosting them! I recommend putting them on a cooling rack to speed up the process. I got mine at Target and I love the grid design because you don't have to worry about anything slipping through. 

Mix up your frosting and add food dye until it reaches a pleasing level of greenness. In a separate bowl, mix coconut with food dye until it's the same colour as your frosting. Or a different colour. You could do purple if you wanted, rainbow even. They're your cupcakes. Release your inner artist and go wild.

Spoon frosting into a piping bag. Or if you're lazy / cheap / forgetful like me, use a quart resealable bag. I say quart-size because it's generally made of a thicker material than the snack or sandwich size bags. Also make sure your frosting isn't too thin, or it will look flat and lame like these cupcakes here. But they still tasted good (and most got covered with coconut) so it's not terribly critical. Make sure you cut the hole in the tip after you've filled the bag. You'll thank me later.

Top your frosted cupcakes with the dyed coconut and candy. Try dipping the corner of the robin eggs in frosting so they'll stick to the coconut. One of my roommates didn't like coconut, so I left off the coconut on a few.

LOOK AT THAT MOIST COCONUT. mmmm food dye.

...and that's it. Now you have some pretty spring cupcakes that are a bit messy to eat that make you look like a gourmet. Give some to your roommates, friends, family, coworkers. Or keep them all for yourself. Eat them while you marathon Game of Thrones. Friendly hint: like most desserts, these are best enjoyed fresh. Unless you like soggy robin eggs. I don't. Also if you elect to use cream cheese frosting, store the finished cupcakes in your fridge, if possible. There wasn't room in mine, so they sat out [covered] on the counter. But they still got eaten and no one got sick so I'd say it's not a big deal.

But wait, there's more.

Don't leave this for your roommates, no matter how much you might hate them. It was around 2am when I finished the cupcakes, so if I can clean up before going to bed (after an 8 hr shift at work and biking 5 miles home) then you can too!

all clean!

If you make these, let me know! I'd love to see your creation. :)

and follow my instagram for more pictures of food. and selfies. but mostly food.

xx

Mary