- Preparation time
- 15 mins
- Cooking time
- 35 mins
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Serves
- 10 people
- Desert
- March 17, 2016
Bird’s Nest Cupcakes.
Easy cake mix cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting, decorated to look like bird’s nests with eggs! Perfect for spring and Easter!
PrintBird’s Nest Cupcakes
Ingredients
Scale
Cupcakes:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 c. water
- 1/3 c. vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 tsp. almond extract
Buttercream:
- 1 c. unsalted butter, softened
- 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1–2 tbsp. milk
- Gel paste food coloring (I used Americolor in Leaf Green)
Topping:
- 1/2 c. shredded coconut
- 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 package Reese’s pieces eggs
Instructions
- For cupcakes:
- Place paper cupcake liners in each of 24 regular-sized muffin cups.
- Prepare yellow cake mix according to package instructions. (For me, this included 1 c. water, ? c. vegetable oil, and 3 eggs)
- Add almond extract to batter.
- Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling about ? full.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until cupcakes are golden brown on top.
- Cool in pan on wire racks for about 10 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan, and cool completely.
- For buttercream:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk.
- Beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, adding more milk if needed to achieve a thick and fluffy consistency.
- Add green food coloring to desired color.
- Pipe onto cooled cupcakes using a grass piping tip, if available. (I used Ateco #133). If you don’t have that piping tip, just spread the frosting on the cupcakes! It won’t impact the decorations much!
- To assemble bird’s nests:
- In a small bowl, combine shredded coconut and cocoa. Toss until coconut is thoroughly dusted with cocoa.
- Place approximately 1 tsp. of the coconut onto the tops of the cupcakes.
- Arrange 3 Reese’s pieces eggs on top of the coconut, pushing the bottoms into the frosting so that they stay in place. Enjoy!
