cadbury creme compulsion

As mentioned earlier, I love all things Cadbury® Egg.  In fact, I have been known to obsess over the things and cannot keep more than one at a time in my possession because I will most definitely eat all I have in a sitting.  I seriously think I am missing the "I'm full" sensation and need to voluntarily shut myself off.  It's terrible because I have a hard time with self control.  Especially with sugary confections wrapped in foil and harboring a surprise of any kind of "creme."  So, sadly, I have not had a real Cadbury® Egg yet this season because I have been baking so heavily.  I have to cut back somehow!

These are "muffcakes" because after searching for the Cadbury® Egg cupcake and finding two recipes, I preferred the one that is not cloyingly sweet and more dense to hold the sugary little egg jewels.  I didn't want just plain vanilla but something that the milk chocolate wouldn't get lost in.  I felt a citrus would do well.  I like orange and chocolate but I think lemon would also be a good contender for this.  Lime is always great with coconut so that is also an option.  I decided to top them with the chocolate batter to resemble dirt and then wanted the toasted coconut to be like a little nest.  You can plop a Peep on top for super Easter cuteness.  I made some homemade peeps and while it was fun, I need to speed up my piping because my marshmallow began to gel too quickly and I wasted quite a bit of sugar.

Now I must do some conditioning for the egg hunt that I am still forced to participate in even though I'm 25 and married. 

Cadbury® Egg Muffcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
creamsicle muffin
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 C light vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 T orange juice
1-2 tsp orange zest
1 dozen Mini Cadbury® Creme Eggs

chocolate cupcake top via Cupcake Bakeshop's recipe
1/4 C unsalted butter, room temp.
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 C + 3 T flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp (a dash) of baking soda
1/4 C milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 T unsweetened cocoa powder

orange frosting
2 T unsalted butter
1 C confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. orange zest
1 T orange juice
1/2 T cream
6 T unsweetened coconut shavings, toasted (don't kill yourself if you can't find them, just buy regular angel flake)
1 dozen chick Peeps (optional)


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line standard-sized cupcake pan with liners.
toasted coconut
1. Spread unsweetened coconut shavings out over a cookie sheet and put in the 350 degree F oven.
2. Bake for 4 min or until you start to smell coconut. It browns very quickly so keep an eye on it.
3. Remove and stir around to evenly brown the bits. Let cool before frosting.

creamsicle muffin
1. Mix flour and baking powder in bowl and set aside.
2. Beat together sugar and butter.
3. Add egg, vanilla yogurt and orange juice until thoroughly mixed.
4. Slowly add in flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Stir in orange zest.
5. Distribute batter evenly into a dozen liners. Drop a Mini Egg into the center of each.

chocolate cupcake top
1. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
4. Alternate adding milk and dry ingredients to the butter mixture until fully combined.
5. Evenly distribute batter over tops of muffin batter.
6. Bake for 15 min. Let cool before frosting (the tops will flatten slightly, you want a flat surface for plopping a Peep!)

orange frosting
1. Beat butter until soft.
2. Add confectioner's sugar, cream and orange juice until smooth.
3. Stir in orange zest.
4. Frost and dip tops into a bowl of toasted coconut.
5. Place a Peep on top if you desire

Nutrition: 393 cal, 18g fat, 83mg sod, 56g carb, 39g sugar, 1g fiber, 5g protein