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    How To Make Adorable Easter Egg Cakes

    The Easter bunny may not exist (oops, was that news?) but this magic is very real.

    Just look at these unreasonably cute Easter egg cakes.

    Here's how they came into the world:

    View this video on YouTube

    How to Prepare the Egg Shells

    WHAT YOU'LL NEED

    12 brown eggs

    a thumbtack or pin

    a wooden spoon (or something to help coax the egg out of the shell)

    two containers, one small one large, to hold the egg yolks and whites

    a large container to hold all the empty egg shells

    one tablespoon salt

    vegetable oil

    a muffin tin

    aluminum foil

    PREPARATION

    1. Place the egg on a paper towel. With the tack, puncture the top of the egg and swirl the tack around to loosen the hole. Carefully chip bits of the egg shell away with the tack and your fingers until a small hole forms. The smaller the hole the better — aim for 1/4" to 1/2" in — but you want to make sure that the yolk is able to come out and you can fill the shell with the batter.

    2. Before you turn the punctured eggs upside down to empty out their yolks and whites into a container, take note of the number of eggs needed for your batter recipe (cake, brownie, or pancake). You'll want to drain that many eggs into a separate container so you can use them for the batter.

    3. To drain the eggs, puncture the yolk so that it easily comes out of the shell, then use the back of a wooden spoon to coax the liquid out, like you might have to with a ketchup bottle. If there are any rough edges on the egg shells, get rid of them carefully with your fingers.

    3. Rinse the eggs shells three times each until water runs clear out of them. Prepare a cold salt water bath for the shells and completely submerge. Leave for 30 minutes and then rinse the shells again with cold water.

    4. Coat the inside of the shell with oil. Wipe off any oil that gets on the outside of the shell.

    5. Use aluminum foil to create nests inside the muffin tin. Place the egg shells upright in the muffin tin and make sure they are secure.

    Yellow Cake In Eggs

    Inspired by Delicious Days

    makes enough to fill two dozen egg shells

    INGREDIENTS

    Duncan Hines classic yellow cake mix*, prepared according to package directions, which call for:

    3 large eggs

    1 cup water

    1/3 cup vegetable oil

    fruit jam, frosting, or whipped cream for dipping

    *We tried various yellow cake mix brands and all of them worked; these are the least fussy and easiest to make of the three cake egg recipes here. We preferred the flavor of Duncan Hines.

    PREPARATION

    1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

    2. Create small foil cups and place inside a muffin tin to hold the empty egg shells upright, then put the shells in the muffin tin.

    3. Stir pancake batter ingredients together with a wooden spoon until combined.

    4. Put a large Ziploc bag into a bowl or, even better, a liquid measuring cup if you have it then pour batter into the bag. Seal the bag. Then, with scissors, cut off a tiny piece of one corner of the Ziploc bag and using that hole to squeeze the cake batter into the prepared egg shells — like a piping bag — until they are 2/3 full.

    5. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. It's ok if the batter comes out of the hole as they bake. Let cool for 1 hour before scraping off the excess batter with a paring knife, and cracking the eggs.

    Brownies In Eggs

    makes enough to fill two dozen egg shells

    INGREDIENTS

    Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix*, prepared according to package directions, which call for:

    1/4 cup water

    2/3 cup vegetable oil

    2 eggs

    *We tried many other brands of brownie mix, and this worked the best. Ghirardelli also works, but is less easy to find.

    PREPARATION

    1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

    2. Create small foil cups and place inside a muffin tin to hold the empty egg shells upright, then put the shells in the muffin tin.

    3. Stir pancake batter ingredients together with a wooden spoon until combined.

    4. Put a large Ziploc bag into a bowl or, even better, a liquid measuring cup if you have it then pour batter into the bag. Seal the bag. Then, with scissors, cut off a tiny piece of one corner of the Ziploc bag and using that hole to squeeze the cake batter into the prepared egg shells — like a piping bag — until they are 1/2 full.

    5. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. It's ok if the batter comes out of the hole as they bake. Let cool for 1 hour before scraping off the excess batter with a paring knife, and cracking the eggs.

    Pancakes In Eggs

    makes enough to fill two dozen egg shells

    INGREDIENTS

    2 cups Bisquick mix* prepared according to package directions for pancakes, which call for:

    1 cup milk

    2 eggs

    plus maple syrup, for dipping

    *We tested other brands of pancake mix, but none of them worked.

    PREPARATION

    1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

    2. Create small foil cups and place inside a muffin tin to hold the empty egg shells upright, then put the shells in the muffin tin.

    3. Stir pancake batter ingredients together with a wooden spoon until combined.

    4. Put a large Ziploc bag into a bowl or, even better, a liquid measuring cup if you have it then pour batter into the bag. Seal the bag. Then, with scissors, cut off a tiny piece of one corner of the Ziploc bag and use that hole to squeeze the cake batter into the prepared egg shells — like a piping bag — until they are 3/4 full.

    5. Bake for 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. It's okay if the batter comes out of the hole as they bake. Let cool for 1 hour before scraping off the excess batter and cracking the eggs.