I saw these little chicks and fell in love with them! They are great fun for a kiddies party.
I love vanilla with lemon icing, but feel free to change the flavor to your liking.
I used ‘Liquorice All Sorts‘ for the eyes and feet, candied sunflower seeds for the heads, and whole almonds for the beaks. For the feather coating I used lightly toasted flaked coconut.
Ingredients (for 12 cupcakes):
Cupcakes:
- 125gm butter
- 1 1/3 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar white
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing:
- 100g butter
- Icing sugar to taste
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- Vanilla seeds from one vanilla pod
(a great flavour to try instead of lemon is about 2 tablespoons of cold coffee)
Method:
- Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth
- Add eggs and beat
- Add the vanilla extract
- Sift the dry ingredients together and then add to the egg mixture, together with the milk
- Place into paper cups in a muffin tray
- Bake at 180 degrees for fifteen to twenty minutes, or until golden brown
- Leave to cool on wire rack
To make icing:
Beat the icing sugar and butter together. Then add liquids. Taste and adjust accordingly – if the mixture is too wet, add more icing sugar.
To assemble:
Invert the cup cakes so that the bottom becomes the top of your chick. Cover with icing, and then roll in the toasted coconut.
Place the sweets for the eyes and feet, and almond for the beaks.
Enjoy, and happy baking!
