easter nest cupcakes - a celebration of all things spring!

so there are a number of easter baking challenges this month in the world of food blogs and i wanted to submit an entry....ta da! here it is...my easter nest cupcake. i had so much fun making this and hey, that's what it should all be about. plus it was so fun finding all those beautiful spring flowers to photograph it with too!

i'm entering this for Master Baker March Challenge, Easter Cake Bake and the Spring Funny Cuppy. Seems a lot but, what the heck, might as well max the little delight out seeing as it was so much fun to make.

now for the recipe...

Caramel Cupcakes

cupcake :
100g white chocolate
125g butter
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. golden syrup
2/3 c. milk
1 c. plain flour
1/3 c. self-raising flour
1 egg

preheat your oven to whatever usually works best for you. line your cupcake pan.
combine chocolate, butter, sugar, syrup and milk in a double boiler. stir untel melted and combined.
allow to cool.
sift flour and mix into caramel mixture.
stir in egg.
divide the mixture and bake for 30 mins.
makes 12 cupcakes.

icing :
4oz butter
1 t. vanilla extract
2 - 2 1/2 c. icing sugar, sifted
1/4 c. milk

in an electric mixer beat butter until soft. add vanilla essence. add in icing sugar gradually making sure it is properly combined, alternating with milk. add enough to reach a good spreading consistency.

decorations :
chocolate mini eggs
cadbury's flake
fondant roses and leaves

assembly :
spread a layer of icing on the cupcake. break up the flake and pile around the outside. use some icing to attach roses and leaves to edges of nest. put in the mini eggs and sprinkle remaining flake to cover any empty spots.

dare to devour! it's hard because it looks too pretty!

p.s. read what Baking Delights had to say about these cupcakes here! thanks for the special mention :)