Easter Peeps Centerpiece

I love cooking, baking and decorating for any type of holiday or celebration.  I have to admit decorating isn't always my strong suit, but love the way it jazzes up a room and perks everyone up.

Pinterest is a great place to find ideas.  While browsing the site I saw so many darling Easter decorations, but Easter Peeps Centerpieces were plentiful.  I'd love to say this was my creation but it's not. Although based on the variety on Pinterest I'm not sure who created these.

Here's my version, although I have to say my jelly beans were with all the Easter candy, so I would have thought them to be pastel colored - they're not.  Even still, I think my centerpiece is darling!  What do you think?

Easter Peeps Centerpiece

makes one 

Materials Needed:

3-inch cube vase

5-inch cube vase

Jelly Beans
Gerberas Daisies

Hyacinths

1 pack of Peeps

Directions:

Center smaller vase inside the other and insert jelly beans (colors of your choice) between the walls of the cubes.

Place Peeps on top of jelly beans.  Don't be afraid to squeeze them into the space.  Fill the gaps if possible. 

Gerberas are sold with plastic tubes on the stems, perfect for supporting them.  Keeping the plastic in place, cut the Gerberas and plastic if needed, to desired length along with Hyacinths, and arrange in vase.  Flowers around exterior should be cut shorter than those towards the center of the vase....Select your favorite flowers!

Note:  

I used a 3 and 5 inch vase but you could also use the 4 and 6 inch vases or even rectangular vases.  Whatever suits you.

I'm lousy when it comes to floral arranging but this is easy.  These vases can be used all year with various colored marbles, rocks, shredded colored paper or jelly beans.  Then fill with your favorite flowers.  The perfect low centerpiece anytime.

Isn't it adorable?  I sure think so!

Chocolate Pretzel Basket Video!

It's still not too late to add more fun treats for Easter.  Here's an adorable Chocolate Pretzel Basket that even your kids will have fun creating.  Fill with your favorite goodies or fresh fruit, for all to enjoy.  Before you know it the entire basket will disappear!

Watch my video below, then head to the grocery store to gather the few supplies needed to make this special treat.  Whether for Easter, a fun or elegant centerpiece - you'll have everyone smiling when they feast their eyes on your creation.

For detailed recipe view below........

Chocolate Pretzel Basket

Adapted from Chocolate Holidays by Alice Medrich

Ingredients for large basket:

12 oz. package chocolate chips (whatever type you prefer)

7 oz. thin salted pretzel sticks

Equipment:

2 quart bowl or other container to use as a mold

2-3 quart bowl for mixing

Chocolate-coated pretzel "twigs" lend themselves to elegant centerpieces filled with plain or chocolate dipped fruit, chocolate truffles, or meringue mushrooms. Or make a little nest for each child filled with jellybeans or chocolate robin eggs.  Let the kids play with the sticky chocolate-coated pretzels on sheets of waxed paper...and don't be surprised to see miniature log cabins, stick figures, and edible skyscrapers.

Directions:

Prepare the mold:  

Spray bowl (mold) with non-stick spray.  Line entire bowl with plastic wrap allowing for plenty of overhang. You may need two sheets to cover the entire bowl, just be sure to overlap plastic wrap. Press wrap as smoothly as you can, covering bottom and sides of bowl.

Bring an inch of water to a simmer in a saucepan.  Set other bowl over simmering pot and place chocolate chips in bowl.  Using a silicone spatula stir until chocolate has just melted and is a fluid consistency.  Remove bowl from heat.  Wipe moisture off bottom of bowl with a towel - be sure not to get any moisture or water in the chocolate. The chocolate should be warm and fluid, not hot.  Add pretzels to chocolate.  At this point the chocolate will be cooler.  Using a rubber or silicone spatula carefully fold the pretzels in the chocolate, adding more pretzels if necessary, until all pretzels are lightly coated.  It's okay if some of the pretzel shows through the chocolate.  If needed, use your fingers!

If chocolate is too warm, pretzels will slide down sides of mold rather than staying in place when building your basket.

Put a handful of pretzels into the lined mold (bowl) and spread them out to form bottom of basket.  Build sides of basket by adding handfuls of pretzels and arranging them against sides of mold.

When pretzels are arranged to your satisfaction, refrigerate until chocolate has hardened, at least an hour, or until needed.  To unmold, lift ends of  plastic liner to remove basket from mold (bowl).  Set basket onto counter and gently peel off plastic wrap.  Store, basket on plastic sheet and return to mold, cover, and refrigerate until needed.

To serve, place on serving platter - fill with Robin Eggs as shown in video, or strawberries - plain or chocolate dipped, truffles, jellybeans, etc.  

For a more decorative look, surround with fresh leafy branches or sprigs of green, if desired.

Wishing you and your family a very Happy Easter!

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

Back in 2009 I appeared on KMOVs, "Great Day St. Louis" to demonstrate how to make bunny cupcakes.  It's been 3 years since it aired and thought with Easter this Sunday some of you may like to try to create these cute and tasty little bunnies for your family and friends.

Here's the video, with the recipe below.  I hope you like it!

Here's the recipe: 


Bunny Cupcakes
What you will need:

Cake: 12 cupcakes (can use whatever recipe you like or a box mix if wanting to save time)

Icing: recipe for Chocolate Glaze below

Decoration: 1/4 cup white confectioners coating (pink candy color) and 1/2 cup white confectioners coating to make ears, eyes, smile, cheeks and whiskers;

1 1/2 cups of white nonpareils
(all online at kitchenkrafts.com or at Michael's Craft Stores or Sallie’s on Manchester Road)
Miscellaneous: one 12-mold muffin pan, pastry cones or zip lock baggie, bunny ear templates, parchment paper

How to do:

1. Bake the cupcakes and let them cool completely. Freeze for 1 hour to overnight.
2. Prepare the glaze.
3. Melt the ½ cup confectioners coating for outside of ears and ¼ cup confectioners coating(to be colored pink) for inside of ears, separately. (this can be done in the microwave for 30 seconds, then check if needed for 15-30 more seconds by stirring)

Pour the ½ cup white confectioners coating (cc) into a pastry cone then blend the ¼ cup of melted white cc with pink candy color for the insides of the ears. Keep the cc warm on a heating pad or a pan placed over a hot water bath, since they will be needed in various steps throughout the directions.

4. Place the bunny ear templates that you have drawn on a sheet of parchment on a sheet pan or counter and tape down. Lay another sheet of parchment paper or cellophane on top (you do this so the pencil marks don't come off onto your design). Lightly secure the parchment paper with one or two pieces of tape. Using the templates as a guide, pipe out 12 sets of white cc exterior bunny ears. For added impact, pipe the center with the pink cc. Set aside to harden. Don’t make these too thin or when you remove them they will break. Remove gently with offset spatula.

5. Glaze the cupcakes.

Take the cupcakes out of the freezer - just a few at a time so they do not sweat. Hold the cupcake firmly by the paper liner and invert it into the pot of melted glaze. Submerge the cupcake just up to the paper line and move it about to insure the entire surface is covered. Pull the cupcake straight up and gently spin it above the bowl by rotating your wrist, to allow any excess glaze to drip off. Flip the cupcake and carefully place it on a wire rack to set. Allow the glaze to set for 3 to 5 minutes at room temperature.

6. Pour the nonpareils into a small bowl. Carefully dip entire cupcake or three quarters of the cupcake into the nonpareils, depending on the look you are trying to create. If only dipping ¾ of the cupcake into the nonpareils, try to create a straight edge where the glaze and nonpareils meet. The glaze will act as the bunnies head.

7. Pipe 2 white dots for the eyes (or use ½ white jelly bean for each) and dot with pink for eyes. To pipe a dot, hold the chocolate pastry cone perpendicular to the surface of the cupcake. Keeping the tip stationary, squeeze and hold in place until the dot is the desired size. Release pressure and pull straight up.

8. Pipe a pink nose, white cheeks if you like and a little pink heart for the mouth. Then use the pink confectioners coating to pipe whiskers.

9. Use the tip of a knife to score the cake where the ears will be inserted. Press the ears gently halfway into each cupcake.

10. For fullest flavor, serve the cakes at room temperature.

Chocolate Glaze Makes 2 ¾ cups

This glaze covers cakes smoothly and beautifully and is an absolutely delicious chocolate icing. The icing can be made with semisweet or milk chocolate; the semisweet has a darker, richer glow.

The icing can be used immediately or cooled and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Reheat slowly in a double boiler before using if chilled. This recipe can be doubled.

In a double boiler or in a medium metal bowl placed over a hot-water bath, melt:
• ¾ pound semisweet chocolate or milk chocolate (can use bag of choc. chips)

In a small saucepan, heat over medium-high heat:
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup light corn syrup Stir until the butter melts, then continue to heat to just before the boiling point (bubbles will form around the pan’s rim).

Slowly pour the scalded liquid over the melted chocolate, whisking constantly until smooth. Strain the icing through a fine sieve.

How to make a pastry cone (or you can use a zip lock baggie with small cut in the tip)
You can make them out of cellophane, wax paper, or parchment paper.

If using parchment paper, to start, roll your parchment paper out. You want to get a perfect square, and actually you’re going to cut that square right in half to make a triangle.

One trick is to just fold one edge up until it meets the top edge, then crease it, and then cut along the outside or unfolded edge. Now open it up, and you’re going to use the crease that was formed when you folded the parchment as a guideline to cut your triangle out.

Now it’s time to form the cone.

Draw a line right in the middle of the longest side of the triangle. And that’s where your point is going to form. To do this, take one corner, and roll it in on itself, so that the corner lines up at the point of the triangle. Wrap the other side around to the back, and you’ll see that the two sides will line up right down the middle.

Now you want to tape, and wrap it around the tip. This will prevent the bag from opening while you’re squeezing it. So there’s your pastry cone.

To fill it, hold it in your hand, take a spatula, put some frosting on it, and place it slowly into the bag. Then, pinch your fingers down on it and slide the spatula out. Now, fold the edges down, and you have your pastry cone.

You can cut a small hole, or even a large hole depending on what kind of piping you’re doing. You can always use a zip lock bag as well to put your icing in and then cut a hole in one tip to pipe.

I hope you have fun making the cupcakes. As with any recipe, make sure prior to starting that you have all of your ingredients in place. This is called Mise en Place.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and would like to wish you and your family a Happy Easter!

Here are some other Easter recipes you might like to try:
Various Easter Egg Recipes & Tips
Easter Ham Leftovers Recipe

Meyer Lemon Tart with a Layer of Chocolate

It was probably back in 2004 that I first experienced the smooth, sweet, citrus, buttery flavor of homemade lemon curd.  Prior to that the word "curd" made me feel sick for some reason, until I discovered what went into it. 

If you like lemons, limes, oranges or any type of fruit in most cases, you can create your own fruit curd.  If you've only tasted the jarred kind, then IMO, you haven't tried true fruit curd.  The flavor is ecstacy.  I can eat it plain, over berries, with cake, berries and whipped cream or in a tart - like the photo above. 

Many years ago I purchased the book Sunday Suppers At Lucques, by Suzanne Goin, solely for this recipe, but soon discovered many more luscious recipes in this cookbook. I'm embarrassed to say that it wasn't until last week that I finally made the recipe.  It was everything and more than I imagined!

I'm not sure why it took so long to make this tart, but an old roommate of mine from college, Cathy, sent me fresh meyer lemons and passion fruit from her garden for my birthday, which was yesterday.  Trying to come up with ideas to utilize the fruit I remembered the Meyer Lemon Tart with a Layer of Chocolate.  I knew these meyer lemons were destined for this tart.

Although there are several stages in the recipe, it's really quite simple.  Unfortunately, I was so immersed in creating the tart only a few photos were taken.  Hopefully it will be enough of a tutorial. 


Meyer Lemon Tart with a Layer of Chocolate will be a superb choice for the end of your Easter meal.

Meyer Lemon Tart with a Layer of Chocolate
serves 6

For the pâte sucrée (makes enough for two crusts):

1/4 cup heavy cream
2 extra-large egg yolks
2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter

For the tart:

1 recipe pâte sucrée
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used 3 ounces)
4 extra-large eggs
3 extra-large egg yolks
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup Meyer lemon juice (or regular lemon juice is fine)
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
A pinch of kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream

Directions

Make the pâte sucrée:

Whisk the cream and egg yolks together in a small bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter on medium speed until you have a coarse meal. Gradually add the cream and yolks and mix until just combined. Do not overwork the dough.

Transfer the dough to a large work surface and bring it together with your hands to incorporate completely. Divide the dough in half, shape into 1-inch-thick discs, and wrap one of them to freeze and use later.

If the dough is too soft, put in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes to firm up a little. If the dough is manageable, place it on a lightly floured work surface, sprinkle a little flour over the dough, and roll it out into a 1-inch-thick circle, flouring as necessary. Starting at one side, roll and wrap the dough around the rolling pin to pick it up. Unroll the dough over an 11-inch tart pan. (The recipe calls for a 10" tart pan but they don't make one - at least I couldn't find one). Gently fit the dough loosely into the pan, lifting the edges and pressing the dough into the corners with your fingers. To remove the excess dough, roll the rolling pin lightly over the top of the tart pan for a nice clean edge, or work your way around the edge pinching off any excess dough with your fingers. Chill for 1 hour.

Make the tart:

 Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Take the tart pan with the pâte sucrée from the refrigerator. Prick the bottom with a fork and line it with a few opened and fanned-out coffee filters or a piece of parchment paper. Fill the lined tart shell with beans or pie weights and bake 15 minutes, until set. Take the tart out of the oven and carefully lift out the paper and beans. Return the tart to the oven and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is an even golden brown. Set aside on a rack to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over medium-low heat. Spread the chocolate evenly on the crust and chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, until the chocolate has solidified completely.

While the crust is chilling, make the curd. Whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar, and fresh squeezed meyer lemon juice together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan (regular lemons will work too).

Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, alternating between a whisk and rubber spatula (see note  below), until the lemon curd has thickened to the consistency of pastry cream and coats the back of the spatula.

Remove the lemon curd from the heat. Add the butter a little at a time, stirring to incorporate completely.

Season with salt. Let curd cool about 8 minutes, then strain into the prepared tart shell. Chill tart in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

Just before serving, whip the cream in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or by hand) until it holds soft peaks. Cut tart into six wedges, plate them, and serve with dollops of whipped cream. (I didn't use any whipped cream - it tasted incredible without it)!

Note: This tart should be served cold, so make it at least a few hours before serving. When you make the lemon curd, you need to stir it the entire time. For an ultra-smooth curd, I use both a whisk and a rubber spatula, alternating between the two as I stir. Start with the whisk, and as the mixture begins to get frothy, switch to the spatula (which helps get rid of the froth), scraping the bottom and sides continuously. Remove the curd from the heat and let it cool slightly before pouring it over the hardened chocolate layer. Don’t cool the curd completely before pouring or it will lose its nice sheen. You can also make this tart with regular lemon juice.—Suzanne Goin

Enjoy this luscious dessert.  It's the perfect ending to your Easter dinner!

Easter Egg Cakes Made Right In The Shells!

I'm always looking for recipes that are out of the box so to speak.  So when I read the post from the Cupcake Project and Delicious Days on how they made Cake Eggs right in the shells of a real egg I thought this was something I needed to attempt. 

It was really quite simple, just a little time consuming, but the results were well worth it, fun and a fantastic surprise for the Easter table!

Before starting this baking project I had every intention of stuffing the cakes once done with lemon curd.  However, I realized once they were cooked there was no way I wanted to tackle that.  The cake eggs were so light and fluffy that I stood the chance of ruining them.  So instead I figured I could plate them with drizzles of lemon curd all around the egg cakes by using a squirt bottle or place each individual cake in a ceramic egg holder.

I decided I'd use Stef's recipe from the Cupcake Project for my first run, but instead of using the sour cream I used plain yogurt. They turned out delicious!  Let me walk you through the steps of how these were done.  I'm sure you'll probably have all or most of the ingredients already in your pantry.

Easter Egg Cakes
makes 10 large egg cakes

Ingredients:

• 10 large eggs - however, you'll only be using one egg for the cake batter.  (Save the rest and make a great Fritatta for brunch).
• 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• large pinch of kosher salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon Pure Lemon Extract
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt

Prepping the eggs:

Using a pin or tip of a corkscrew, carefully poke a small hole in the base (larger end) of the egg.

Then carefully peel away about a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch circle of the shell and thin film below the shell.  Turn the egg over a bowl and remove the entire egg from the shell.  To remove the remaining egg I used a round popsicle stick to carefully help scoop out the contents.  Do this same thing with the rest of the eggs. 

At this point rinse the insides of the eggs carefully with a slow steady stream of water over the sink.   Then place the rinsed eggs into a bowl of salt water.  I used about 1/4 cup of Kosher salt and then enough water to cover the eggs.  Be careful when submerging the eggs into the water so the shells don't break.  Leave them to soak for 30 minutes.

Rinse the eggs and lay on a paper towel to drain with the holes setting directly on the towel to dry out.

Directions for making the cake batter:

• In a small bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix one egg and the sugar until blended and smooth.
• Add the butter and lemon extract and mix until thoroughly combined.
• Add the plain yogurt and blend until smooth.

Using some non-stick spray carefully place the nozzle into the hole of each egg and spray.  Carefully swirl the egg around so that the non-stick contents cover the insides of the egg.

Set a popover pan (which I used) or cupcake pan (which would need a base of aluminum foil set into each cup to help the eggs stand upright) in front of you on the counter. 

Place the cake batter into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip or you can use a plastic baggie.  Make sure that the tip will fit into the hole of the egg.  Gently fill each egg approximately 3/4 full.  If you don't fill enough your cake won't look like an egg.  I filled all of mine 3/4 -7/8 full. Remember the batter will expand.  If some of the batter spills out of the egg, don't worry you can easily clean it up and nibble on the scraps.  You can then clean the egg with a damp paper towel.

Bake the eggs in the pan at 350F for about 23-25 minutes. 

Let cool completely before peeling the eggs.  However, if you prefer you can also serve them directly in the shell and let your guests peel their own.

These are great served with lemon curd. As I mentioned, I had fully intended to stuff these with the lemon curd but they came out so light and fluffy that I was afraid I would ruin the cake eggs so didn't bother.

These are fun to make and I am sure your kids will enjoy it as well.  Just make sure they handle the eggs very carefully so they don't break them. 

Have fun making these and have a very Happy Easter!