Easter Cupcakes Baked in Real Egg Shells

I watched my Grandmother's face when she realized that I hadn't handed her a hard boiled egg but rather a cake baked inside a real egg shell.  Her eyes were filled with wonder and I could envision what she must have looked like as a tyke the very first time she saw a red balloon float across the sky or the the trunk of a giant elephant spewing a stream of water.

"Crack it on the table," I told her.

 

Eggs were cracked, cupcakes were eaten, and I was perceived as a cupcake Houdini.

How to Make Cupcakes in Egg Shells

Update 3/19/2012:  For the basic instructions on these Easter cupcakes, keep reading.  To see another example of them with dyed eggs and cream cheese "yolk" filling, see my latest version of these Easter cupcakes.

I modeled my cupcakes in egg shells after Nicky's egg shell cupcakes from Delicious Days.  My basic technique is similar to hers.  However, I used a different cake recipe.  I went for a lemon and sour cream cake - light, Springy and perfect for Easter morning.

Yield: 10 large egg cupcakes

What you'll need:

• 9 large eggs (Only one will get used in the cake.  The rest are just used for the shells.  I'm going to post a fantastic French toast recipe soon that used up six of the eggs.)
• 1/2 C flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 1/4 C sour cream

To prepare the eggs:

Carefully poke a small hole in the top of each egg.  I found that the easiest way to do this was to use the tip of a corkscrew bottle opener.

Once you have poked a tiny hole, peel back the edges of the hole to expand it a bit.  The holes need to be large enough to fit the tip of a piping bag inside.  You can always make the hole larger when you are ready to pipe so err on the smaller side during this step.

Turn the egg upside-down and dump out the contents.  Keep the contents of one egg separate to use in the cake recipe.  If you plan on using the other eggs for baking, it might be helpful to store them in small plastic containers in groups of two (otherwise it will be hard for you to later tell how much of your big bowl is two eggs).  You may wonder why there is a thermometer in the photo.  I used the tip of the thermometer to help get all of the egg out of the shell.

Rinse the insides of the eggs out thoroughly over the sink.  Then, immerse them in saltwater for thirty minutes.  At first, I couldn't get them to sink.  I realize that this is probably obvious to most of you, but in case anyone else is science-challenged, I thought I would share Jonathan's tip that the eggs need to be filled with the saltwater in order to sink. 

Rinse the egg shells in cold water and lay the eggs hole side down on a paper towel to dry.

Prepare the cake batter (I used my favorite sour cream cupcake recipe with lemon extract instead of vanilla):

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix one egg and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Add the butter and lemon extract and mix until fully integrated.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
5. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth.

Place the prepared egg shells into a cupcake tin.  Use aluminum foil to help them stand upright.

Load the batter into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.  Make sure that the tip can fit all of the way inside of the egg hole.  If it can't, expand the hole a little bit at a time until it fits.  Fill your eggs about 3/4 full with batter.  This is the tricky part.  If you underfill the eggs, you won't have a complete cake egg inside when you crack them after baking.  If you overfill the eggs, cake will overflow out of the egg during baking.  If the batter overfills too much, you can turn your eggs into Easter egg cupcake people (the cupcake on top is the hair).

It looks ugly right after baking, but just remove
the excess cake and clean the shell with a damp towel.

I found that it was best to let the cake overflow out of the top of the egg and then simply pick it off (eat it) and clean the shell with a damp towel before serving.

Bake the eggs at 350 F for 23 minutes.

Let cool, crack, and eat!

Special thanks to Herb'n Maid for posting a suggestion to make these cupcake on my Facebook wall.  I always love to hear your ideas!