Bird's Nest Cupcakes

Got this recipe off a cupcake recipe book that I borrrowed from the library. All the cakes looked so pretty that I decided to copy some down for my recipe collection. All of them are pretty easy to bake with basic ingredients. The only, perhaps a bit more difficult part, is to decorate them.

The chance came for me to bake some cupcakes for a small celebration of my boss's wife's birthday. They turned quite good. I used light cream instead of mascarpone cheese (which is more expensive) and it worked out well.

This is supposed to make 12 cupcakes but I only managed to get 8 out of it:

115g unsalted butter at room temperature (I used the normal salted ones)

3/4 cup sugar (you could use less if you prefer)

2 eggs

3/4 cup self-raising flour

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp milk

To decorate:

100ml thickened cream (I chose to use the light version. You may choose something that has sufficient amount of fat that you are able to whip it. The label on the bottle should say if you can whip it or not)

50g icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted

Chocolate Flakes

Sugar-coated chocolate eggs

Beat butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift the cocoa powder and flour (sometimes I don't bother sifting :p) into the mixture and fold them in with the milk.

Spoon mixture into the cupcake moulds lined with paper cases. Bake for 18 mins at a preheated oven of 180C or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow them to cool before you decorate.

Put cream, sugar, cocoa powder in a bowl and beat it until it is smooth and well combined. Spread the prepared frosting onto the cakes. Break the chocolate flakes into shards resembling twigs and arrange them on top of the frosting to create a bird nest look. Finish off with a couple of chocolate eggs in each nest.

This was how it was supposed to look like :p I think I did not achieve the 'frosting' look because I used cream. But its alright.... the chocolate cream really tastes yummy!