Bird Nest Cupcakes with Robin Eggs
Last year there were several birds that built nests on the porches around camp. I spent time waiting for the cute little birds to hatch out of those cute little eggs. Once they did, those baby birds were absolutely adorable! I know that we have all seen bird nest cupcakes, but after looking at those eggs day after day, I decided to make some because they were so cute. I will admit, the chocolate eggs are pretty simple once you figure out how to make them, but keep in mind, you can always buy cute little eggs at the store to make this project easier.
If you decide to make them yourself, you have different choices to make about the size and color. The good thing is candy melts make it easy because they’re everywhere! You can find them in local craft stores or Wal-Mart in almost any color you can imagine. I love the turquoise and the yellow but the green and pink were too cute to pass up.
Supplies for Bird Nest Cupcakes with Robin Eggs:
(may contain affiliate links)
Recipes:
Coconut Cake Recipe
Coconut Buttercream Frosting
Frosting Colors:
White
Brown for the Nest
Chocolate Eggs:
Candy Melts in the color of your choice
Tools:
Decorating tip #89 for the nest
Large Round Cupcake Decorating Tip
Medium Easter Egg Chocolate Mold-This is the size of the eggs on the cupcakes.
Paintbrush to spatter the food gel color onto the eggs
Bench Scraper
Sharp Knife
Brown food gel a small bowl diluted with water
To make these cupcakes you need to make the eggs first. Once you pipe the frosting onto the bird nest cupcakes, you will need to add the eggs before the buttercream ‘crusts’ which means before the top layer dries. If not, your frosting will have a cracked look.
Bird Nest Cupcakes with Robin Eggs Video:
Enjoy the video!
- Pick out your candy melt colors and melt them according to the directions on the package.
- I found it best to work with one color at a time. If you work more than one color, the candy melts might become to firm too work with and you will spend time running back and forth to the microwave.
- Once the candy melts are melted, fill the egg tray about halfway full and move it around to spread an even layer of the candy melts inside the egg.
- Pour the excess back into the bowl.
- Place the eggs into the freezer for about 10 minutes to help the chocolate get firm.
- Repeat this process three times to make the side of the eggs tick so they will be easier to assemble. If they are thin, the eggs might break and they will be harder to stick together.
- Use a tool like a bench scraper to remove the excess candy from the tray and to give the eggs a smooth edge.
Also, when making these, it is easier if you make one color at a time. Mixing the colors like in the tray above seems to complicate things when you are trying to keep the colors separate and clean. I ended up with blue in the yellow and pink in the green. Trust me. Save yourself some trouble and make one color at a time.
- If you want to add a filling to the eggs, do it before you assemble them. You can use peanut butter filling, caramel or anything your heart desires.
- When your ready to assemble them, add a little melted candy melt on one half of an egg while the egg is still in the tray. It will help make a nice neat edge.
- Quickly place the other half of the egg on top. Be sure to use enough chocolate to seal the edge all the way around the egg.
- Let it sit for a few minutes and then remove it from the tray.
- Use a sharp knife to trim the edge.
- Once the edges are trimmed, use your finger to smooth out the chocolate.
- Get ready to speckle them!
Now for the fun part because it’s time to add some freckles to the naked eggs.
- Mix a small amount of water to a drop of brown food gel color in a small bowl.
- Then use a brush to splatter the brown dots onto the eggs.
- This is a messy process, but it is really fun if you know how to do it without splattering your entire kitchen.
- When you know you’re going to make a huge mess splattering food gel colors why not use the sink for easy cleanup?
- All you have to do is place the eggs on a clean plate and place the plate in the sink because yes, it’s that simple.
- Dip the brush into the thinned food gel colors and tap it on the side of the bowl. The brown droplets will fall all over the eggs and anything else within a mile of them.
- Keep dipping and tapping until the eggs are speckled or freckled.
- Place them on a clean plate and let them dry completely.
- Rinse the sink out and be happy you didn’t do this step on your kitchen table!
- Begin by baking the cupcakes and making the frosting because it’s hard to decorate cupcakes without cupcakes.
- Use the large round tip to pipe the white frosting on the top of the cupcake.
- Then, make the nest with the brown frosting and the #89 tip by piping in a circular motion. add a little frosting to the bottom of the nest and then build up the sides of the nest.
- Continue until you have made a good-sized nest.
- Place the egg in the center of the nest and push it down a little so it’ll stay in place.
- Repeat for the rest of the cupcakes.
Look at all those colorful eggs!
I hope you are ready for Easter and it’s tradition to look for the egg so I am going to do just that. After we eat these bird nest cupcakes we are going to look for more bird nest with eggs so we can see the cute little baby birds this spring. I hope you find a few bird nests too!
Bear hugs,
Those are some very festive cupcakes, Lisa!
I got a kick out of your advice to do the speckling step IN the sink….and”be happy you didn’t do this step on your kitchen table!” 🙂
I also appreciate the tip about making one color of eggs at-a-time. After reading your post, it makes sense to do it one color per mold to avoid the same issues you had when trying to do multiple colors on one mold. But had you NOT explained it, you know I would be the one thinking “I’m sure it will turn out fine” to do multiple colors at-a-time. So, a big bear hug and a Thank you for a great tip!
Have a wonderful, blessed Easter. Be safe.
Janis
Lisa, These bird nest cupcakes are too cute! I am so impressed with your homemade chocolate speckled eggs. It looks like you had fun making these. Have a Happy Easter! Joan
I love coconut cakes but ( unfortunately ) live in a land that does not stock coconut cream instant pudding and pie filling ,, do you have a suggestion for something to replace it with ?
ps , your baking ideas and recipes keep me busy baking and my friends are loving it ( they are my quality control units to prevent me from eating all I bake ) !
Oh my goodness, you MADE the eggs! I thought these were so cute and then I see you MADE the eggs!! I love this little cupcake!
It’s good to know that there ate people out there that love to cook just as much as I do ,and bake and have a drive for it as well I have been baking since Julia Childs was on PBS isn’t that funny!