I’ll admit, the title of these cupcakes is a bit of a mouthful, but I just didn’t think there was any part of it that could be missed out.
Obviously the flavour needs to be in there – orange and almond; the type of baked good – cupcake; the fact they can be enjoyed by people with wheat and gluten allergies – flourless; and of course the theme that inspired them and gives them their cuteness – Easter chicks!
I knew I wanted to bake something Easter-themed this week, but also wanted it to be something my wheat intollerant colleague could enjoy too.
I found these orange and almond cupcakes which looked gorgeous, and then the marzipan chicks just seemed to go perfectly, both in flavour and colour!
The cupcakes themselves were really good – dense yet light and kept well for days. The white chocolate topping nicely balances out the slight bitterness from the orange, and the chicks – well, just look at them and their cute little faces!
I made these on Sunday, so was delighted when on Monday Kate from What Kate Baked announced Easter as the theme for April’s Tea Time Treats challenge (following a brilliant scone round up on Lavender and Lovage) – these are my entry!
Easter chick orange and almond flourless cupcakes (recipe adapted from My Food Trail)
Makes 8 cupcakes
- 1 whole orange
- 140g ground almonds
- 1tsp baking powder
- 40g butter
- 150g caster sugar
- 2 medium/large eggs
- 100g white chocolate
- 50g double cream
Boil the orange for an hour and a quarter (bit tedious but worth it) then blitz in a food processor until no lumps remain and set aside. Sift together the almonds and baking powder into a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time, using an electric whisk. Add half the almonds, then the orange pulp, then the rest of the almonds, beating until well combined.
Line a cupcake tin with 8 cases, then divide the mixture between them – they should fill about 3/4 of the way up as they don’t rise much. Bake at 160 degrees for 45 minutes, until the tops look dry and craggy (don’t worry, they’re not overcooked and will be deliciously moist inside!)
Melt together the chocolate and cream, then leave to cool. Once it’s thickened but still pourable, spread on top of the cupcakes.
For the chicks (makes 12):
- 225g golden marzipan
- 2 or 3 drops red food colouring
Take 1/2 of the block of marzipan and divide into 12 equally sized pieces. Roll each into a slightly long oval ball, then pinch at one end to make tail of the chicks. Take half of the remaining marzipan (1/4 of the original block) and divide into 24 equally sized pieces. Roll each into a ball then press down to flatten out into wings, then press onto the sides of the chick bodies.
With the last quarter of the marzipan, add a couple drops of the red food colouring and mix in well to make an orange colour. Pinch of 12 very small bits to mould into cone shaped beaks, and attach to the faces of the chicks using a little dab of water. Divide the rest of the orange marzipan into 12 pieces, roll into balls and flatten out into circles. Use a knife to cut half way up each circle to create feet, then attach to the bodies again using a dab of water.
Use a cocktail stick to make indentations for the eyes, and there you have it – Easter chick cupcake toppers!
ABSOLUTELY gorgeous! I LOVE them! They make me smile!
GREAT TTT entry thanks!
Karen
How gorgeous (and no doubt downright tasty!) are these chicks?! I ditto love them! Thank you ever so much for entering these crackin’ cupcakes into TTT!
oooh your little army of chicks is just sooo cute !
Looks amazing and probably will taste amazing!
They look adorable!
They are sooo pretty!
They look amazing.
You have a talent for cooking.
These Easter chicks are so awesome! I’m going to share them on my Facebook page!
Those little chicks are adorable! I really want to make them!
Reblogged this on Diary of an Irish Country Wife and commented:
How adorable are these Easter chicks from the Hungry Hinny
Thank you for all the lovely comments!
Hi! this looks delish. Do you peel the orange first then boil it in water? Sorry, didn’t understand fully about that part.
No you literally boil the whole orange, skin and all!
Ha! Brilliant. I’m excited to try this. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Orange you great!
The cupcakes look delicious, yummy
oh can you PLEASE parcel them ..cant wait to eat
Nice
D
These are adorable! I only wish that I could use marzipan at our house (we have nut allergies to deal with) so that I could make some of the little birds. They are so cute.
You could try using fondant icing instead, and just use some yellow food dye for the colour…
Great a recipe to feed my darling’s almond, marzipan and orange addictions in one hit, got make me some of these
.
aaawwwww cute little chicks!
love these!! lovely post, am so going to make these with my kids
Amazing ;D
beautiful! i think i’m going to have to try these soon
love the little chicks on top–so cute!
Saw your blog on Freshly Pressed – great recipes and photography!
Look nice !
Me, too! Me, too. I love those chicks. That is the most adorable thing. If I had them I would arrange them in the display cabinet and NEVER eat them! I would paint their portrait! Awwwww…….
Haha – I actually haven’t eaten any of the chicks because they’re too cute but everyone else has been eating them head first!
Oh so clever!
Love these! One of my go workers just found out that she has to be on a gluten free diet, I am going to make these for her…thanks!
So cuuute!
Cute, i will give this a go
http://arhitekturaplus.wordpress.com/
Beautiful! Do you actually eat them? You are so cruel.
naw cute!
I can’t get enough of holiday-themed sweets (I just posted chocolate-covered cookie dough bunny truffles)! These are unbelievably adorable – you’re so talented!
Your cookie dough bunny truffles are really cute – using the strawberries for ears is genius!
Reblogged this on The Fashion Freak's Blog of ℓaᵭy ɱaίṯɧa ♥™ and commented:
this is a reblog but i love this cupcake feature chick and todays my bdayy <3 :}
These look great! I’ve never heard of the word “marzipan” before…let me go look that up…
How flippin’ cute are those little chicks? Simply adorable.
I am going to try these with some Kenyan Coffee. Thanks for the recipe!
You made those chicks yourself?!?!
You are my new hero…seriously…
Haha wow, I’m not sure they were hard enough work to deserve that!
The IDEA alone is amazing — add the execution of that idea, and it’s truly heroic.
I’m a freelance writer by profession, so all creativity is tied up in words. I’m simply unable to be creative any other way, so work like this simply astounds me!
These sound delish – will be giving them a try, Just hope my chicks turn out as well !
Amazing
)
Reblogged this on defitria and commented:
lovely..
Thanks for a gluten-free recipe. I love almond flour, I’m sure these are as delicious as they are cute.
Me too! I am gluten-intolerant and can’t wait to try these!
These are so cute!
Sounds so yummy
Thanks for making these gluten-free! They sound and look delicious!
Wow I have a family member that can’t eat flour. This is perfect. My mouth is watering just thinking about the flavors! Awesome pictures as well.
lovely and creative stuff!! happy Easter!
You are so creative! My god, I would have never came up with this! How long have you been baking to be this good at it?!
I’m printing this out and creating it!
Absolutely Marvelous!
Katie
http://katieraspberry.wordpress.com/
I can’t take any credit for the actual cupcake recipe, just the chicks! I’ve been baking forever, although only obsessively for about 2 years!
Absolutely adorable! And they look mighty tasty too.
I also think your title if fab! I like the thought of a band called “Easter Chick Orange.”
Those chicks are too stinkin’ cute!! Thanks for sharing
Reblogged this on Findings Through Inquiry and commented:
Beautiful! I need to do this for Easter!
Just one problem – they look too good to eat! (But I’m sure I’ll manage . . . ) Clever, clever you. Oh – and Happy Easter!
Recipe sounds great and I love your little chicks. Just right for Easter.
Love your blog and the pics are great!
Love seeing gluten free recipes Freshly Pressed! This looks wonderful!
These are so cute, and it looks like they’d work well for Passover too!
These look delicious and so cute
I was just looking for some Easter treats to make and this is the first thing I saw when I logged into wp! They sound delicious and I can’t wait to try them.
These are adorable, and I love that they’re wheat free.
Those chicks are so cute…how can you eat them?
Your chicks are so adorable and the whole recipe sounds absolutely delectable! Have a great Easter!
These are so cute! And, they look delicious too!
Very cool! Kids must LOVE these!
These little chicks look adorable! And the cupcakes look tasty!
I like it too much..
So cute! I’m in the US and hoping that heavy cream will still work for this recipe. I think it should since it’s just to make the white choc ganache topping. The chicks are absolutely ADORABLE! It’s almost a shame to eat them but they’re made of marzipan goodness…LOL. Congrats on being FP & hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Silly question: you boil the whole unpeeled orange, correct? No peeling is involved? This looks delightful, and I want to make them for my allergic-to-wheat boyfriend!
That’s right, no peeling! It sounds strange and I was a bit dubious but it works!
Love it! Though I don’t know if I’d have the heart to eat the chicks. They’re too sweet. If you’ll pardon the pun.
Do you think other fruit, like cranberry or blueberries, something else, could be substituted for orange? A non-acid fruit is what I’m hoping for. Can one use almond flour in place of ground almonds? I think that’s what ground almonds make – almond flour. Thank you!
Hmm I’m not sure what other fruit would work… Blueberries might be worth a try as I think they’d go quite well with the almond and they’re not too overly sweet, although I’m not sure how many you’d need as I didn’t weigh the orange… I’ve not used almond flour but I would have thought it would be ok if you can’t get ground almonds. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Just what I need when my gluten free family members come! Thanks!
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Those cupcakes look yum and cute at the same time
These are incredibly adorable. I wish I had your level of talent with baking. I’m sure my birdies would look ghastly. D:
Awesome!
Those little chicks look so cute!
I was wondering, did you make up the recipie? This is such a creative Easter treat!
so cute!
These sound lovely and with the little chicks on top they are just adorable. Happy Easter!
Too cute surely to eat ;o)
Reblogged this on 8BIT.
oh, those little chickens are so cute! Happy Easter! x
Cute AND tasty. Very nice! (I especially love the chicks) Sadly, I am completely hopeless in the kitchen, but I admire your gift! Happy Easter! – MoSop
:3 <3 i love those
I want to make these SO bad!!
I just started a wheat-elimination diet a few days ago AND was just thinking wistfully about cupcakes. Excellent timing.
Reblogged this on Oneoflokis's Blog.
Oh my I want to share that in my Pinterest pinboard. With a link back, of course. Would you mind?
That’s fine!
they’re too adorable to eat! it’s like you just want to keep it for your eyes!
I am only 12 years old, and LOVE to bake! For easter I must make desert for 25 peope, and hope to make this!!! How do you make your chicks sooooo perfect???
Reblogged this on deliciouscravings and commented:
Reblogging on delicious cravings!!
Love the marzipan chickees! Too cute to eat.. perhaps. =P
I want to make these.
Reblogged this on The Heart Shaped Radish and commented:
This is just Beautiful, flourless orange is my favorite cake flavour aswell. Yummy!
These are too adorable!! Adding them to my list of Easter crafts and creations for the weekend
Wow, it’s so cute!
Thanks for sharing, I love it.
Very creative idea. Thanks for sharing.
They look delicious.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy,
I wonder if baking is the only activity in which beating any two things together could yield something “light and fluffy.” ^_^
so so so cute !!!!
Adorable and love that they are flourless!!
Thank you for the gluten-free goodies!
I loved it! Specially the cute chicks!!! Amazing \o/
I’m excited to make these. I’ve never bought marzipan before..
Reblogged this on Fluxgirl's Blog and commented:
These will fit in nicely with my detox
i could tell by the photos alone that they taste absolutely divine.. thanks for sharing your recipe.. need to try it.. yumm!
These are adorable! Wish I had time to make these before Sunday!
Marzipan chicks? Be still my heart! So glad to have discovered your blog. My mouth is watering. I have a bridal shower tea party to plan for May and me thinks I’m going to grab a lot of inspiration from you! Cheers.
Beautiful little cupcakes.
Adorable AND gluten-free? That is awesome.
I don’t have an allergy, but I’m supposed to be going easy on gluten for health reasons. Finally, a gluten free treat that’s fun and cute! I have to try these. Thanks!
wow looks fabulous…just shared on my page have a look http://www.facebook.com/B.J.Mishra
Love these, so cute!
yum…! Looking good.
These are adorable and I love the fact that they are gluten free too! I get cupcakes for Easter!! I can’t wait to try these!
These look and sound lovely. I will definitely be giving them a try! Thanks
this is so cute..I love the yellow chicken
Reblogged this on Blog Biscuit and commented:
Something I may try and also pass on as ive got some wheat intollerant friends
Can’t wait to make this for my gluten free daughter. Thanks!
having celiac disease I APPRECIATE THIS. Making them day ahead were they still fresh? The only down fall of gluten free items not always great tasting after warming over like noodles. Or staying fresh..
These actually stayed fresh for 3 or 4 days after baking, better than cupcakes made with flour would!
Those chicks are beautiful! I think my niece would love making them with me. Thanks for the idea.
super !! thanks
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Reblogged this on Runnymede Residents Community Web Site and commented:
I found this following my post breakfast Hot X Bun. Enjoy.
These are really cute and i think i might try and make some.
Hmmm. Must find a way to make these diabetes-friendly. I’m not sure I could make myself eat the chicks; they’re too cute.
These look delicious! Thanks for sharing.
these are a great addition to any bakery that includes gluten free items! soooo adorable! I ‘m going t make them! Thanks for sharing!
Reblogged this on justagirltalking.
Wow, that’s amazing. Well done!
fantastic, I must try to do it
sweet and cute!
So cute! Have a nice eastern!
http://pernillabredolt.com
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Reblogged this on Inky Mirror.
Reblogged this on The Hidden Truth Behind The Real Me.
They are SOOOO cute! And I love marzipan!!!!
Troppo belli!
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Looks yum great one
These look gorgeous. Great to see someone baking with dietary restrictions in mind! As a coeliac I love getting new ideas for tasty treats that are safe to eat
With one of my colleagues recently becoming intolerant to wheat I’ve been bookmarking a lot more wheat and gluten free recipes, lots of which will be appearing here so keep an eye out!
I have subscribed to your blog so that I can see any more tasty delights you come up with as soon as they are posted!!! I intend to start a blog page fairly soon on the highs and lows of living with a dietary requirement to raise awareness but you’re already doing a great job by posting great recipes that cater
Awesome – look forward to seeing your blog, might be able to steal some ideas!
Wow those look amazing and super tasty. I think I’ll have to make some. Please check out my blog. Come and see an 11 year old’s view on all things baseball. Feel free to give me any advice since I’m pretty new to blogging.
-David
http://bleacherboy.wordpress.com/
I would like to try that awesome thing.
How cute are these? Simply loved them. Cant wait to make them and surprise my little ones!
Soooo cuteeee!
these are adoreable, and I love how you catered for coeliacs everywhere
Hey your blog is amazing, those cakes look yummy! I would be so happy to create a logo for your wordpress, my portfolio is on here!
http://hypegd.wordpress.com/
Check the Just devine cakes logo blog!
lovely !!
Adorable! What a great idea. I’m not fancy enough to work with Marzipan but I made these chicks today with yellow and orange Starbursts and they came out great (albeit slightly less put-together than yours!). Thank you for the idea!
Glad they turned out well – I would never have thought of using Starbursts!
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Mmmmmmmmmmmm!
You’re making me hungry too!
Nicely done!
Anything orange and almond has me looking!
These are so fun.
It is lovely, interesting and awsome…
Very very nice recipe… We really like it too much
what a perfect treat for Easter! the chicks are so cute! very creative!
almost gluten free!! just a couple tweaks and i am in business. too bad i didn’t see this before easter!
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How cute are these! ^.^~
Wow those look amazing and super tasty.
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Cute!