These Vegan Speckled Egg Cupcakes feature a delicious vanilla bean cupcake with chocolate, with a light buttercream topped with mini eggs. Perfect treat for Easter & spring.
Easter is coming up this month so I thought I’d make something festive and very delicious. I think these cupcakes fit that criteria, don’t you!?
Who doesn’t love a light, moist and fluffy cupcake topped with a whippy buttercream? It’s one of the best things to have ever been created! These cupcakes are spot on with flavour and texture.
Why you need to make these Vegan Speckled Egg Cupcakes?
- They’re fun to make
- They are great for kids (and big kids)to make and decorate
- 100% vegan and delicious
- They are great for easter parties and celebrations
- The design is simple yet extremely effective
The cupcakes are topped with the most amazing vanilla Swiss meringue frosting! Can you get a better combination than chocolate speckled cake with vanilla?!? I think not. It’s a classic! The fun doesn’t stop there, the cupcakes are topped with chocolate shavings to resemble a bird’s nest and topped with my absolute favourite Easter candy, vegan Mini Eggs. These ‘mini eggs’ from Doisy and Dam have become my favourites this year. I’ve already gone through at least 4 bags of them this season! Someone hold me back- haha!! They’re SO addictive! They taste just like how I remember the classic Cadbury Mini Eggs.
How to make Vegan Speckled Easter Egg Cupcakes:
Cupcakes
- Firstly, you’ll want a batch of cupcakes.
For these cupcakes, I wanted to keep them pretty simple, so I decided to make plain vegan vanilla cupcakes, with some chocolate inside. The chocolate isn’t necessary, but gives the speckled illusion which looks awesome and ‘egg like’.
- Buttercream
To keep the cupcakes light and airy, I decided to make a Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This buttercream is super delicious and easy to make. It compliments the flavour of the cupcake perfectly, and makes for a really delicious topping for these cupcakes.
I speckled them with cocoa powder and grated chocolate. How amazing does it look?! I love this effect. - Decoration
It’s not an easter cupcake without a nest and eggs. I used some grated dairy-free chocolate on-top of the buttercream and placed 3 vegan mini eggs inside.
Tools and decorative ingredients I used to make these speckled cupcakes
A cupcake tin: I’m sure everyone has a cupcake tin, if not, this is the one I use and LOVE.
Cupcake cases: You’ll want some non-stick cupcake cases for these cakes. I like to use plain white as you can see the chocolate speckled though the paper. It looks really cool!
A paint brush: To help get the classic ‘speckled look’, a food grade brush / paint brush will help you achieve that.
Grater: To replicate the ‘birds nest’ on-top of the cupcake, a grater is very handy! This is the one I use.
Food gels: Easter means pastel! I love to bake with Rainbow Dust Food Gels. They’re extremely pigmented and vegan friendly!
Vegan Mini Eggs: Classic ‘Cadbury Mini Eggs’ are NOT vegan, but thankfully companies are starting to make vegan friendly mini eggs. My favourites are the Doisy and Dam Mini eggs. They don’t only look like classic mini eggs, but taste like them too. I pick mine up in Holland and Barrett.
Looking for more delicious Easter recipes? Check these out:
The BEST Vegan Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Vegan Cookie Dough Easter Egg Cheesecakes
Vegan Chocolate Orange Easter Sheet Cake
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. It would mean so much. Thank you & happy baking!
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Vegan Speckled Egg Cupcakes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
How to make THE BEST Vegan Speckled Egg Cupcakes, with a vanilla speckled cake, Swiss Meringue Buttercream & vegan mini eggs.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the cupcakes
- 240ml of dairy-free milk*
- 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
- 210g of self raising flour
- 50g of caster sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract / vanilla bean paste
- 60ml of sunflower oil
- 15g of dairy-free dark chocolate (grated)
Ingredients for the buttercream
- 150g of dairy-free block butter*
- 300g of icing sugar
- 50ml of aquafaba (chickpea brine)*
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste / vanilla extract
Decorations
- Vegan Mini Eggs (Doisy and Dam Good Eggs)
- Dairy-free dark chocolate
- Cocoa powder
- Chocolate fudge sauce (for the core, optional)
Instructions
Method (cupcakes)
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC fan and line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
- In a small bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
- Add the vanilla and oil to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a smooth batter.
- Fold in the grated chocolate.
- Fill the cases 3/4 full with the batter. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Pop the cakes into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer down the centre of the cakes and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
- Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before frosting and decorating.
Method (buttercream)
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter and whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
- Sift in the icing sugar and vanilla. Whip to combine. The buttercream will be very thick.
- Pour in the aquafaba and whip for 5 – 10 minutes until it turns light and creamy. Your Swiss meringue buttercream should be thick, very creamy and silky smooth. If it feels too heavy, add chunks more butter / splashes of aquafaba until its very light. If it looks like its split, add some more chunks of butter and keep it whipping on high, it’ll come back to normal consistency.
- Transfer the buttercream in to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip nozzle.
- Core the middle of the cupcakes with a apple corer or spoon and fill with chocolate sauce (optional)
- Pipe a swirl of buttercream on top of the cupcake.
- Grate some dark chocolate over the top of the buttercream, and place three vegan mini eggs in the middle to resemble a nest.
- For even more speckle, add a few tablespoons of cocoa powder in a bowl with some water until runny, using a food grade brush, spatter the top of the cupcakes.
Notes
To store: Store these cupcakes in a sealed container in the fridge, and allow to come to room temperature before enjoying. Best eaten within 2-3 days of making.
My favourite vegan / dairy-free block butters are ‘Naturli Vegan Block’ or Flora Plant Based Block Butter Alternative (salted or unsalted).
Aquafaba is the water from a can/tin of chickpeas. The chickpea water or brine as it’s called, acts as an amazing egg substitute for cakes, cupcakes and delicious meringue buttercream. You can also get aquafaba in a carton for easy use.
Where to find vegan mini eggs? I use the ‘Doisy and Dam Good eggs’ which are a great mini egg substitute!
What milk to use for buttermilk? The best milk to use when making cakes is soya, although any dairy-free milk works great!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 18-20 minutes
- Category: cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Made these today and they taste amazing.
Author
Hello, Aw im so happy you enjoyed! Thank you SO much!! x
Hi Holly I’m about to make these cupcakes but I noticed that this recipe only has 50g of sugar compared to the Biscoff cupcakes and its otherwise the same recipe. Is that a typo? Or suppose to be like that?
Thank you!
Author
Hello, the recipes are slightly different. This recipe is supposed to have 50g of sugar 🙂 Hope that helps x