So there we were, surveying the garden and trying to decide where to locate the various bits of hideous plastic play equipment we’ve acquired since H was born, when I decided to seize the moment. ‘Where are we going to put the chicken run?’ I asked, casually, when my husband appeared to be distracted and only half-listening. Immediately he sprung to attention and fixed me with a steady stare; ‘Chickens???’. Sigh. I have long maintained a mild obsession with acquiring some chickens and creating a pseudo-rural idyll where they can peck contentedly around the yard. The trouble is that whilst I am imagining ambling down the lawn daily to collect a handful of gorgeous, still-warm eggs, my husband is quite rightly imagining that the clearing out of hen poo and the collecting of various tragic hen body parts tossed around by the local foxes will fall to him, and is thus far from keen.
Until the day that our visions collide, therefore, I will stick to making chicks the easy way, predominantly with fondant icing. With the holiday weekend almost upon us and lots of family to visit, Harry and I set about making these freshly hatched cupcakes today, and are mightily chuffed with the result, despite the jaunty angles and tendency to wobble. Recipe and tips below for those with the time and inclination for a bit of sculpture; anyone who has ever mastered Play-Doh will find this a doodle…
Baking and Making:
- Set the oven to 170 degrees and make your cakes; I use the Hummingbird Bakery vanilla cupcake recipe which we adore and manages to compensate for my culinary inadequacies every time, producing scrummy cakes… but any one will do.
- Begin work on the chicks… start by rolling out balls of yellow fondant (either pre-bought or home-coloured)
- Decorate the heads with stars of white royal icing (for shells), and more for eyes. I added a dab of red colouring for that newborn glow, and snipped tiny candy hearts in half for the beaks
- Whilst the chick heads are drying out a little and the cakes are in the oven, have a general clear up; enlist help to ensure all the residual cake mixture is scraped cleanly out of the bowl….
- Place a disk of your yellow fondant on each cupcake, flattening the edges to avoid ridges.
- Add a larger white fondant disk to cover the cake, having first cut out a star shape in the middle
- Secure your chick head in the middle of each cake using edible glue, apricot jam or glaze. Don’t do what I once did and use a cocktail stick, unless a visit to the hospital emergency room is on your schedule.
- Tada!! Job done. Eat all of the leftover cake bits and icing. Feel a bit sick and have a lie down.
For any that survive the initial family tasting session, they also look good as gifts…I used a bit of fusilli to imitate straw (below) and Harry will be giving this one to his Granddad tomorrow…
Very cute! Nice job!
These look really good! Are the heads solid fondant?
Thank you so much! And yes, I rolled balls of solid fondant to make the heads.. most people over 5yrs old carefully remove the heads and then eat the cupcake, so they’re really more cake-toppers than anything else – but kids seem to find them the best bit! Any ideas for how you’d make them differently much appreciated – I’m very much an amateur…
I was thinking you could use cake pops for the heads, but I think it would be a lot more time consuming than the way you did it.
Absolutely adorable!!! I love it!
These have to be the cutest Easter cupcakes I’ve seen so far, I love their little expressions!
Thank you! yes, whatever way I tried it, they all seemed to end up looking a little bit startled…
So cute!
I am really impressed by the easter chicks you made, I really enjoy baking and will definitely try this recipe for my daughter. I think your blog is very interesting. We have just finished a large renovation on our house, my only regret is we used to have a Lacanche range cooker which was great for baking but my new oven hasn’t been as reliable or it might just be my baking skills.
Thanks for the comment and good luck with the chicks; also great to hear that you loved your Lacanche, as that’s what we’ve just chosen for ours – I’m just getting the hang of it but great to hear that it served you so well!
So cute! And don’t give up on the backyard chickens – it took me a year to convince my husband, and now, we wouldn’t trade them for the world. I have two hens, Liesl and Greta, and I spend about 15 minutes a week cleaning up after them. They’re very easy to take care of, and not as messy or stinky as you’d think. I’ve loved every minute of having them – eggs are little miracles!
Chooks are Delightful and super easy to care for and absolutely worth the occasional scattered-body-parts collection! I’m campaigning hard to the beloved to invest in our third collection of hens (this time we Will Keep Them Alive – waitingforagnes.wordpress.com was my last blog of hen tales). Also, those cakes are adorable.
These are absolutely awesome! My three year old was entranced by the pictures. Next batch of cupcakes I’m going to have to try something like this. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ahh, thank YOU for stopping by and for such lovely feedback – let me know how the baking works out! (And yes, 2/3r olds and cupcakes definitely have a strong mutual attraction…)
Your baby is a cutie! And the cupcakes are, too!
thanks for stopping by my Fine Feathered Friends
Wow! Adorable!! Well done!
First of all, these are stinkin’ cute!
Second, my husband and I have that exact same discussion!!! I have even gone so far as to suggest a goat, but he seems more likely to say maybe to the chickens. Maybe one day they’ll come around. I hae to get a house first!
You know, that’s a great tactic; maybe if I suggest a goat he’ll be more open to the chicken idea?! Deliciously devious
These are so cute! I am going to try this one of these days!
Those are adorable.
haha this is so adorable!
Hi, I read your new stuff like every week. Your story-telling style is witty, keep doing what you’re doing!
These cupcakes are adorable! Super cute.
These cupcakes are absolutely adorable!!!!
Anto
beautiful
I’ll try to do it together with my doughter 
Where did you get the feet?
Hello, these are absolutely adorable! I was wondering what you used for the feet? Good lack with getting the chooks. We had them growing up and I loved them. Hubby not so keen but we just have to keep trying hey? Xx
Pingback: An Easter welcome… « Kate's Creative Space