These Vegan Creme Egg Cupcakes have a chocolate sponge and vanilla buttercream topped with half of a vegan creme egg. Get the recipe below.
Creme eggs are the classic Easter confection. Although Cadbury now have a couple of creme egg variations, they haven't made a vegan one...yet!
So these Vegan Creme Egg Cupcakes use the creme eggs from Mummy Meegz (though they call them "Chuckie Eggs". You can buy them online or in stores like Waitrose and Ocado.
Just like their dairy based cousins, these eggs have a sweet fondant centre encased in chocolate. I mimic these flavours with a chocolate cupcake and vanilla buttercream which is swirled with yellow to look like the fondant centre.
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Ingredients
I've broken the ingredients down into those you'll need for the cupcakes and the buttercream icing.
For the cupcakes:
- Plant milk (e.g. soy milk or oat milk)
- Lemon juice
- Vanilla paste
- Caster sugar
- Vegan block butter (e.g. Naturli or Flora)
- Self-raising flour
- Cocoa powder
- Bicarbonate of soda
For the buttercream icing:
- Vegan block butter
- Icing sugar
- Vanilla paste
- Yellow food colouring
See the recipe card for full quantities. You'll also find substitutions listed below in case you don't have all the ingredients to hand.
Instructions
Follow these simple steps to create the perfect vegan creme egg cupcakes every time. First up, making the cupcakes:
- Step 1: Pre-heat your oven and line your cupcake tins with cupcake cases.
- Step 2: Beat together the sugar and vegan butter.
- Step 3: Slowly add the plant milk, lemon juice and vanilla paste and beat until combined (don't worry if it's lumpy).
- Step 4: Fold in the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Step 5: Spoon the cupcake batter into the cases and bake in the centre of your oven for 20 - 15 minues.
- Step 6: Leave the cupcakes to cool before decorating.
Hint: use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is at the correct temperature as this can drastically affect the time your cupcakes take to cook.
Now on to the buttercream:
- Step 1: Beat together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla paste until smooth.
- Step 2: Colour half of the buttercream yellow.
- Step 3: Add the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe swirls on top of the cupcakes.
- Step 4: Lastly top with half a vegan creme egg.
Substitutions
Baking is a science and there aren't many substitutions you can make in this recipe.
The main one is that if you don't have lemon juice to hand you can use apple cider vinegar.
If vanilla paste is too expensive or hard to come by you can use vanilla extract. Taste the batter and buttercream to check you're happy with the amount you've used.
Variations
If you can't get hold of vegan creme eggs then why not use other chocolate eggs instead. Or perhaps top them with the Nomo Easter bunny chocolates.
See this vegan mini egg cupcake recipe for more Easter inspiration.
Equipment
An electric whisk will ensure that making this recipe is easy. If you don't have an electric whisk you can beat the butter and sugar by hand but this will take much longer to get it pale and creamy. The same applies for making the buttercream.
You will also need cupcake or muffin tins. Cupcake cases don't tend to keep their shape unless they are in a cupcake or muffin tin so don't try just baking these on a baking sheet.
Storage
These cupcakes will keep in an airtight container in a cool place for 3 - 4 days. After this point they may go stale.
Top Tip
If you're unsure whether or not the cakes are cooked through, use a small skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre. If it comes out clean they are cooked. If not, put them back in for 5 minutes.
FAQ
I find that block butter works best for this recipe, particularly for the buttercream because it helps it keep its shape better. You could use spreadable butter for the cupcakes if you needed to.
Depending on the brand of butter you use you might find it becomes lumpy when you add the milk. Don't worry, whisk in some of the flour and cocoa powder mix and it will soon become smooth again.
It's best to sieve your cocoa powder when you add it to the flour otherwise you might find lumps.
There are three likely causes: (1) you opened the oven while they were cooking which decreased the temperature, (2) you took them out of the oven too soon or (3) you used too much bicarbonate of soda. Avoid these simple mistakes and they won't sink again.
The recipe
Vegan Creme Egg Cupcakes
Equipment
- 1 12 hole cupcake tin or 2 x 6 hole cupcake tin
- 1 Electric whisk
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 150 ml plant milk e.g. soy milk or oat milk
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 125 g vegan butter
- 125 g caster sugar
- 0.5 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 125 g self-raising flour
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 0.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
For the buttercream
- 125 g vegan butter e.g. Naturli or Flora
- 250 g icing sugar
- 0.5 teaspoon vanilla paste
- yellow gel food colouring
- 6 vegan creme eggs e.g. the Mummy Meegz Chuckie Eggs
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180C/356 F/gas 4.
- Add cupcake cases to 1x 12 hole or 2x 6 hole cupcake tins.
- Add the lemon juice to the plant milk and leave to curdle.
- Beat the vegan butter and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and creamy.
- Add in the vanilla to the plant milk and whisk well. Don't worry if it is curdled and lumpy.
- Fold in the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda and mix until just combined and the batter is creating bubbles. If you find the batter is lumpy give it a quick whisk with the electric whisk again.
- Divide between the cupcake cases, filling them two-thirds full.
- Bake for 20 - 25 mins until risen. They should be bouncy to the touch and a skewer should come out clean.
- Leave to on a wire rack to cool.
- To make the buttercream, beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla with an electric whisk until pale and creamy. It is done when it no longer feels grainy.
- Split the buttercream in half and add the yellow food gel to one half.
- Fill a piping bag with a star nozzle so that one half is yellow and the other half is white.
- Pipe swirls on top of the cooled cupcakes.
- Top with half a creme egg.
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