eggtastic. [mini Easter egg cakes w. lemon curd filling]

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! I spent the entire day with my family, enjoying a delectable brunch at our country club and then relaxing at home.

Naturally, I had an urge to bake, so I made Martha Stewart’s recipe for these adorable mini Easter egg cakes. Instead of using a glaze, as suggested in the recipe, I decided to make a frosting. I figured this would guarantee a thorough coating of the cakes and would give them a stark white color to resemble an egg.

Not only were the cakes adorable, but they were delicious–especially with the lemon curd filling, or shall I say egg yolk.

Recipe:

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans

3/4 cup flour, plus more for pan

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Zest of 1 lemon

3 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Lemon curd, (recipe here) – I added yellow food coloring to the curd so it better resembled an egg yolk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Generously butter the wells of an egg-cake pan, and dust the wells with flour; tap out any excess. Set pan aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine butter and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and lemon zest; beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture. Beat until just combined. Spoon batter into each of 6 wells in the cake pan, filling to within 1/2 inch of the rim.

Bake the egg cakes for 10 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake until the cakes are golden, 10 to 12 minutes more. Transfer egg-cake pan to a wire rack, and let cool slightly.

Invert pan, and remove cakes. Using a melon baller, scoop out a 1-inch-diameter hole in each cake. Frost the cakes once cooled (flat side up). Carefully spoon the lemon curd into the hole. Fill each hole with lemon curd until it resembles a slightly rounded egg yolk.

Butter frosting recipe:

3 tbsp. milk

3 cups confectioner’s sugar, plus more to reach desired consistency

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract, plus more to taste

Directions:

Pour confectioner’s sugar in medium bowl. In a small bowl, melt butter over medium heat (or in microwave). Remove pan from heat, and immediately pour butter into the bowl with confectioner’s sugar. Add milk and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. Add more confectioner’s sugar if frosting is not thick enough to frost.