Egg Cupcakes

With the Egg Contest in full force, I wanted to create some fun cupcakes that would look like one of my favorite breakfast foods, but really be sweet treats. 

Read on for the list of ingredients and how you too can make these egg treats in no time!

I decided to make gingerbread cupcakes and these do not disappoint! You can go with whatever favorite cupcake recipe you like, this recipe is a variation of one I found on Epicurious.

You will need:

One muffin baking tin
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Mix the flour, spices and salt in a bowl
2. In a separate bowl, cream 1/2 stick of the butter. Add the sugar to the butter and beat well until it's fluffy.
3. Add in the molasses an egg to the wet mixture.
4. In a measuring cup combine the baking soda with 1/2 cup boiling water and stir the mixture to dissolve the baking soda. Stir the mixture into the wet mixture (the mixture will appear curdled).
5. Incorporate the flour mixture into the molasses and stir to combine.
6. Line twelve muffin tins with paper liners and spoon the batter into the liners, filling them halfway. Bake the cupcakes in the middle of a preheated 350°F oven for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and let them cool.

Onto the fun part! Now that your cupcakes are cooled, we'll need to frost them. I recommend using a cream cheese frosting and bought mine at the store. If you prefer to make your own, I'd recommend this cream cheese frosting recipe.

Now that you've got your frosting "egg whites", I chose a variety of candies along with some jam to try making different egg yolks.

Here are some options:

Reeses Pieces (clear winner on the candy front)
Peanut M&Ms
Starburst -- you'll need to reshape them as you like, but you can get very creative.

Apricot jam -- make sure to find one without all the bits of fruit in it.

I made a few kinds for all sorts of egg lovers --

If you're adept at piping, cut a small slit in a ziplock, add your "egg whites" and you can easily make mini eggs on top of your cupcakes like these sunny side up and scrambled cupcakes.

If you want to get even more create, melt a little bit of white chocolate, carefully pipe it on top and you've got hollandaise!

If you prefer working with a knife and slathering lots of frosting on, I recommend using your favorite "egg yolk" jam, piping it through a ziplock to easily create a round yolk.

Sprinkle your eggs with a bit of cardamom to give great flavor and provided the much needed "pepper" that goes so well with eggs.