Easter Basket Cupcakes with American-Style Buttercream
Make these adorable Easter Basket Cupcakes this Spring! Follow the easy video tutorial for a fun project to work on with your kids or grandkids. Use your favorite cupcakes along with this fabulous American-Style Buttercream, for an unforgettable holiday treat!
Happy Spring, my peeps! Can you believe it? We survived the Winter and now here we are on the other side. It sure feels great!
Here in the Northeast, we had a few weeks of unseasonably warm weather (I’m talking in the 80’s!), and now it’s cold again. But I can deal! The sun is shining and the bulbs are peeking up; I know we’re headed for warm weather soon enough!
How is it Easter week already? Seriously. It’s been busy lately, for a food blogger! We had St. Patrick’s Day and Pi Day practically on top of each other, and boom. Now it’s Easter. It’s really early this year, right?
It’s all good though, because I’ve got you covered with tons of great recipes. We had Coconut Cake on Monday, and today I’m sharing this cute treat that’s as fun to make as it is delicious:
If you’ve got bored kids on Spring break, this could be a really fun project to do together. It all starts with your favorite cupcake recipe. I am all about this White Cupcake recipe right now. I added a little lemon zest to the batter to make it extra Spring-y. But you could even use a store-bought cupcake, just make sure it’s unfrosted.
While the cupcake you use doesn’t really matter all that much, the frosting actually does. As you can see, these cupcakes are frosted on all sides, so you really need to use something that can crust over. This way your hands won’t get all messy when you pick one up.
My all-time favorite frosting is a Swiss meringue buttercream, and I’ve got tons of recipes on this site to prove it. I’ve actually been accused of being a buttercream snob! And I can’t deny it- I’m just so in love with the silky, light texture. I also love how easy it is to frost a cake with it, because it stays workable indefinitely. In other words, it doesn’t get dry/hard on the surface when it’s exposed to air. Most of the time, I consider that a good thing, but there are times when you actually want that, and this is one of them.
So, I’m recommending this American-style buttercream for these adorable basketweave cupcakes, and for anything else piped that needs to be a little stronger. It’s simple as can be, just butter and powdered sugar with a little cream to keep it smooth and spreadable. You can add any extracts you like, but I’m partial to vanilla, lemon, or almond.
Now I’m sure you’re wondering how the heck it’s possible to create this intricate design, right?! You’ll be shocked at how simple it really is. I’ve listed and linked to all the supplies you’ll need in the recipe card below, and put together a little video tutorial to show you how it’s done. Enjoy!
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Easter Basket Cupcakes with American-Style Buttercream
Ingredients
- 24 White Cupcakes
- 24 ounces white fondant, (approx.)
- 1/2 cup green sprinkles, (approx.)
- 72 easter egg candies, (less than a 10-ounce bag)
- 2 cups unsalted butter, (4 sticks), softened
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons almond extract, (vanilla can be substituted)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Roll about 1 ounce of fondant into a rope, about 10-inches long. Fold the rope in half and twist. Drape the twist over a rolling pin to create a curved shape. Allow to dry/harden for a few hours or overnight.
- Make the White Cupcakes according to the recipe directions. Cool completely, and remove cupcake papers.
- Make the American-Style Buttercream according to the recipe directions below. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a coupler and a #48 tip. Pipe the frosting on the sides of the cupcakes, in a basketweave pattern (see video above). Remove the tip and pipe a flat layer of frosting over the top of the cupcake. Add a #22 tip and pipe a shell border around the top edge of the cupcake. Top the cupcakes with green sprinkles and Easter egg candies. Set the fondant basket handles into the soft frosting.
To make the American-Style Buttercream:
- Place the softened butter and salt in a large mixing bowl and beat together until creamy. Add the powdered sugar, 1 1/2 cups at a time, mixing on low speed until fully incorporated. When all the powdered sugar has been mixed in, add the almond extract, turn the mixer speed up to medium-high, and whip until fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Pour the heavy cream down the side of the mixing bowl, in a slow and steady stream, while whipping.
Hi awesome and genuine recipes, your recipes will be saved and uploaded to all my social media accounts
Awesome, thank you Zouhair!
Totally adorable Allie!
Thank you so much Mary Ann! xo
These are so adorable!
Thank you so much hon! xo
How completely and utterely adorables are these!!!!! LOVE them!!!
Aw, thank you Tori! I’m so happy you like them! xo
Can I ask – how to you add right at the end ”Learn More – Get the Recipe!” and have it click to the blog???
Rebekah you mean for my Facebook post, right? When I upload the video to Facebook those are all options. I just fill in all the blanks for tags, title, call to action, etc. Hope that helps!
These are so so creative and pretty!!
Thank you so much sweetie!
What a work of art, seriously! These are absolutely gorgeous and almost look too pretty to eat 🙂
Aw, thank you so much Medha! xoxo
These are stunning! That’s so creative to turn cupcakes into Easter baskets, and I love the green sprinkles as Easter basket grass. So cute!
Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun figuring out what to use and then seeing how it came together. Enjoy your day, dear!
Oh wow these are stunning! And thanks for including a video 🙂
Thank you so much Heather! It was my pleasure. So happy you enjoyed 🙂
Allie, you’ve truly outdone yourself this time! These are soooo precious and look incredible! What a brilliant and beautiful idea!!! <3
Lina, you’ve got me blushing over here! Thanks so much for the sweet compliments <3
These are so cute…!!!!!
Thank you so much Eva!
Help! I got the cupcake part down added handle and froze to prepare for Easter but when I took it out my handle fell over like melted. Do these have to be made same day?
These are so cute! Sharing!
Aw, thanks a bunch Mira! xxoo
Girl this is just beyond darling! I can’t even stand it!
Great video!!!! And these cupcakes are so adorable!
Thank you so much Kellie! I hope you enjoy the warm weather today 🙂
Allie, LOVE the video and these Easter basket cupcakes!!! SO CUTE! I’ve never made white fondant before but now I’m going to try!
Alice fondant is a lot of fun to work with. I think your girls would probably love playing around with it! Thank you so much my dear 🙂
If it’s possible to be killed by cuteness then consider me six feet under. I love this!!!
Haha Jessie you are so funny! Thank you so much for the sweet compliment. Hope you are enjoying this first week of spring!