My Baking Diary - Easter "Cake in Egg Shell"

I stumbled across an amazing & interesting post from "The Cupcake Project" while searching for some Easter baking idea - egg in cake shell!

First batch done! :)

Easter egg shells painting

This is like a walk down memory lane...I used to do this during my Sunday School days :)

My faithful helper

I've a faithful helper who's my housemate. She has been helping me here & there whenever I bake & this time around, both of us painted the egg shells...haha. We used food colouring & cotton buds!

As I'm SUCH a mix-and-match baker, I made the decision to use another vanilla cake recipe with this egg shell idea :) I also made vanilla custard instead of using cheese as the "yolk" of the "egg" (cake). Ah, how fun!! The greatest risk is that the results won't be "wow" due to the mix-and-match/"agak-agak" habit of mine.

Filled-up egg shell

I didn't take any photos of the custard :( So this is roughly how the custard looks like (remnants of it stuck on the egg shell).

Here's to share what I've learned today!
p/s: I used my hand & whisk to beat the batter, so the cake may turn out differently if you have a cake mixer.

Vanilla cupcake recipe from Glorious Treats:
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)
1/2 cup buttermilk
(or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and oil, beat.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk. Beat until just combined. Scrap down the side of the bowl.
5. The batter will be thin. Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners. Fill liners about 2/3 full.
6. Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.
7. Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.
8. Frost as desired when fully cool. I love to use my favourite Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

 Hand-mixed/beaten batter

Really light!

My "babies" baking in the oven in their shells

I'm waiting for it to cool down before I can crack it open...

Vanilla Custard as "Egg Yolk" from Cooks.com:
Ingredients
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks, beaten
3 c. milk

Directions
1. Mix in saucepan sugar, salt, cornstarch, and flour.
2. Stir in gradually 3 cups milk.
3. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Slowly add 1/3 of the mixture and blend into the egg yolks.
6. Then add back to rest of mixture.
7. Cook 1 more minute over heat.
8. Remove and add vanilla.
9. Refrigerate after cooling down. This can now be spooned into Cream Puffs.
p/s: I added more corn flour & all-purpose flour to get a thick custard-dough like the one in this other recipe.

The "egg-cake" :D

The mini "yolk" :(

I wish it was bigger...should have put more! I was too afraid that it'll ruin the outcome of the cake. Plus, the cake looks brown instead of light yellow...sobs! 

The texture of the cake

Quite dense & moist. I'm a little disappointed with it...I was hoping for a more "fluffy"/"spongy" kinda cake...

It would be interesting to try this out for yourselves :) 

Have a Blessed Easter 2012!

Resurrected & alive,