Coconut and pineapple easter cakes in egg shells

I always make an effort to make something special when big holidays are coming. Something to make the table shine and people smile.

We just bought a new house so we’re going through a happy but stressful moment. My husband is working crazy hours, going straight to the new house to do renovations after a full days work in the office. This left me feeling like a single mum (I respect those women so much), meaning that I have had to deal with a lot on my own: work, son, shopping, housework, the dog…here’s hoping this lonesome juggling won’t last much longer.

This means our quality time together over the Easter holiday will be brief, so I want to make an extra effort to make the house and the food feel special. I thought that cakes that are hatching out of eggs fit the bill, right?! And thank goodness the weather has officially transitioned to spring, the warmer days inspired me to go for a pineapple and coconut flavour mixture.

We are big egg consumers around here so it was easy to collect the shells, but if 20 sounds like too much, halving the recipe works well too.

Coconut and pineapple easter cakes in egg shells (yields 20)

20 empty egg shells

125g melted butter

100g sugar

2 eggs

125g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

100g pineapple chopped small

Dessicated coconut

Cinnamon

Method:

1. Open the eggs removing only the top of the shell. Wash them well and let them soak for about 15 minutes in boiling water. Let them to dry completely before using

2. In a bowl whisk the melted butter and the sugar until pale. Add the eggs and whisk for a little longer until combined

3. Sieve the flour and baking powder together then fold it into the wet dough. Stir in the pineapple pieces.

4. Preheat the oven to 180C . Cut strips of foil and stuff at the bottom of a muffin tin, they will help to stabilise the shells. Place the shells on top of the foil.

5. Place the cake dough in a piping bag and fill 2/3 of egg shells with the mixture. Bake for around 20 minutes

6. If the cake has spilled over a little too much you can remove excess cake with a coffee spoon while they are still hot

7. Mix a little coconut with cinnamon to taste and sprinkle it over the cakes