Easter Cupcakes with Homemade Peeps


Oh no! Easter is already over! I better post this quick before everybody forgets that it happened.

Remember when it was Easter? No? Dang it!


So among my varied and strange pregnancy cravings (bone marrow, for one), many of you know that sugar has not generally been one of them (little meat eater, this one).

So why is it this season that I couldn't get marshmallow Peeps out of my head? Or shopping cart, or cupboard, or stomach.


So there I sat, with my empty Peeps boxes around me and various spilled arrays of pink, yellow, and purple sugar and I thought, I bet I could make these.

I bet I could make these and stick 'em on a cupcake!


And you know what? That recipe exists! Courtesy of Martha Stewart (who else would you go to for something as obscure and dainty as Peeps?), that recipe exists.

Mine are a little squishy looking, I know. It was my first time really working with marshmallow, and most of these ended up hand-molded instead of piped. You do have to time it right, so the mallow is neither too runny and warm or too cold and set to shape. But they have sweet faces (I assume it will be the same after the baby is born - a little squishy with a sweet face).


So farewell Easter, and goodbye to Peeps on sale at the store! I'll miss them in all their simple, sugary glory.

Easter Cupcakes with Homemade Peeps

First, make the cupcakes. I did plain vanilla, (PLAIN! like vanilla is ever plain) but marshmallow goes with just about everything. Still, if you DO make vanilla, I recommend this recipe very highly. It makes about 24 cupcakes, and includes frosting instructions. Make and frost all your cupcakes before you make your Peeps.

Next make your Peeps! This part I adapted from the instructions on www.marthastewart.com:

1 batch of piping marshmallow
1 c colored sugar (you can make this very easily just by stirring a few drops food coloring into the sugar with a spoon)
2 T powdered sugar
a few drops milk
1 c shredded coconut

I recommend doing this on the surface of a silpat or other bendable, foldable material. Makes for easy clean-up and you can save your scattered colored sugar for a later use.

Put colored sugar in a small or medium sized bowl, enough room to work in it with your hands. Scatter a good amount across your silpat or other work surface, until it is reasonably well covered.

Start coconut toasting. Place shredded coconut in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally, until desired level of toastiness/shade of brown is reached. Take off the heat (you want this done early so the coconut isn't so hot it melts your frosting).

Make your piping marshmallow. Pipe or spoon marshmallow shapes onto sugar. You can use a damp finger to shape them after piping, or to smooth any points or corners. Sprinkle with further colored sugar. Once solid enough to not lose their shape roll them around a bit to be sure they are completely sugared.

Stir together 2 T powdered sugar with a few drops milk until icing is formed (you need very little milk to do this). Apply eyes using a small icing tip, or just dab them on with a toothpick. Allow to set about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle cupcakes with desired amount of coconut, mound into a nest shape. Top each cupcake with one Peep, making sure the bottom of the Peep touches the frosting (if it is just on coconut, it will slide off). Eat and enjoy!

5 comments:

Cakebrain said...

Better late than never! Cute peeps cupcakes! I have an image of you in my head now of you gnawing on a huge bone...
I had watermelon cravings when I was pregnant! I could polish off a whole watermelon

Shaunee said...

CUTE!

jeannesioux said...

Who would have ever thought......
Making your own marshmallow chicks. Now that's cool.
So, from your post, I have learned what a silpat is. That's a new one on me.

Also, what is piping marshmallow? Is it the marshmallow that you buy in the bottle?

amlamonte said...

oo cakebrain there was definitely a point in this pregnancy where i could have gnawed happily on a large bone! lucky you with your healthy watermelon craving!

hi jeanne! yes silpats! they aren't indispensable, but now that i have one i find it very useful. it's bakeable and keeps me from having to grease things like cookie sheets, and is also a very easily cleaned surface for messy things like sugar sprinkling. i love it.

as for piping marshmallow, oops i meant to link that part of the recipe! fixed it now, that link will take you to a recipe for it. it's just gelatin and sugar and water. it's about the same texture as the marshmallow you get in a jar, but i doubt that kind would work for this project because it tends to stay runny. this recipe is runny when warm, but sets as it cools so is better for making shapes.

Nancy said...

How cute! It doesn't matter if it isn't Easter anymore. They look good enough to eat year round.