Cute Easter Cakes

Happy Easter!! I hope you are all having a lovely break.

Rather than gifting people chocolate eggs and bunnies this year I made loved ones cute little cakes.
Oh no! Some sneaky bunnies have got into the carrot patch! The little critters are popping up everywhere stealing the carrots. I don't mind that the rabbits are pinching the carrots, everyone knows they swap them for chocolate. The two bunny cakes crack me up everyime I look at them. The little bunnies with their butts in the air made me giggle a lot as I put these cakes together .I do have tutorials for each of these cakes but I think I will save them for next year, I am sure you've all been baking, dipping, painting and decorating all weekend and today just want to sit down and eat chocolate. When you are ready to get back into the kitchen you might want to try out this recipe though. With two of the three cakes having cute little carrots on them I thought it would only be fitting to make yummy carrot cake for the centers. The recipe is one of my Mum's old favorites with a few of my own little tweaks. My Mum's version of carrot cake includes sultanas, but they are yucky so I left them out and added some pistachios and extra spices.For the Carrot Cake

185 grams butter (softened)

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

3 eggs

2 cups grated carrot (about 2 large carrots)

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup copped pistachios

3/4 cup self raising flour

3/4 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

I doubled this recipe to make two six inch cakes and one 8 inch round cake.

To make the cake- preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and flour cake pans.

With an electric mixer beat the butter and caster sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time beating well after each addition, the mixture will lighten an increase in volume.Stir in the grated carrot and nuts.

Sift in the remaining flours and spices, stir until combined.Spoon the cake mixture into prepared pans and smooth over tops with a spatula. Bake the cakes for about one hour or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Remove the cakes form the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.Frost the cake with your favorite orange cream cheese or buttercream frosting.

Hatching Egg Easter Cupcakes

I have always loved Easter! What's not to like? There are cute cuddly baby animals all over the place, pretty pastel colours and its a great excuse to eat silly amounts of chocolate. While its Autumn here in Australia the days definitely have a Spring feel, the end of Summer rains have made everything happy and green and the cooler days make me want to spend all my time outdoors. When I was little Mum would always spend the few days before Easter out in the gardens making sure the yard was perfect for our egg hunt on Sunday morning. My brother and I would spend Saturday night decorating our baskets with crepe paper, ribbons and fuzzy yellow chicks ready to fill with our chocolate egg loot. The fuzzy yellow chickens from my childhood have remained one of my favorite Easter decorations, I knew I had to use them to cutesy up some yummy cupcakes.

I don't really know what to say about these cupcakes, except that after I placed on the egg and chick toppers I stood back and laughed. They are just so ridiculously cute! And easy!! all you need are some hollow chocolate eggs and some baby chicks to make these adorable hatching cupcakes.

After debating about what kind of cupcake I'd like to make I went with the obvious choice. Chocolate cupcakes for the one day when there is no such thing as too much chocolate. I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe and teamed it with a pastel purple fluffy vanilla frosting, both are quick and simple and all the ingredients are usual pantry items.

For the Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 14)

1 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup Dark Cocoa Powder

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup boiling water

10 medium hollow medium chocolate eggs

10 fuzzy chicks

fondant flowers

To make the cupcakes- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c. Line cupcake pans with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl add sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, whisk together. Add the eggs, milk, oil and the vanilla to the dry ingredients.

Beat the wet and dry ingredients together on medium speed for two minutes.

Mix in the boiling water on low speed until smooth. The mixture will be pretty thin.

Evenly divide the cake mixture between the prepared cupcake pans.

Bake the cupcakes for 20 to 25 minutes, until they spring back when poked in the center. Place cupcakes on wire racks to cool.

To make the egg toppers- Unwrap 10 eggs, leave 4 of the eggs whole.

Using a hot knife cut zigzag holes in the top of 4 of the eggs, place a little chick inside each with its head poking out. Break the last 2 eggs into large and small pieces.

For the frosting-

125 grams unsalted butter (softened)

500 grams icing sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

purple colouring

To make the frosting- beat the butter on medium speed until very pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the icing sugar, milk, vanilla, salt and a couple of dots of colouring, beat on low until all the ingredients are incorporated. Increase the mixing speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes until the buttercream is smooth and fluffy.

Fit a piping bag with a large star tip and spoon in the buttercream. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each of the cupcakes.

Stand the whole eggs and the chick filled eggs onto the tops of the cupcakes. Top the remaining cupcakes with a fuzzy chicken and press some broken egg pieces around the base. Add a few broken pieces around the bottoms of the hatching eggs also. Decorate each little cake with some fondant flowers.

Hot Cross Bun Cookies

I have been thinking about making some more hot cross buns but had a hard time coming up with a flavour I'd enjoy more than the Raspberry White Choc-Chip Hot Cross Buns from last year. Rather than making the same buns again I decided to take the idea in a different direction, Hot Cross Cookies. Studded with currants and full of yummy spices these cookies take the best parts of hot cross buns and turn them into a cute little treat you can dunk in your tea.

For the Cookies (makes 12)

65 grams butter (softened)

1/3 cup caster sugar
1 egg

1/4 cup dried currants

1 cup self raising flour (sifted)

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon milk

3 tablespoons Jam (I used mixed fruit because it was all I had)

To make the Cookies- Line cookie tray with baking paper and preheat oven to 160 degrees c.

Add the butter, sugar and egg together in a mixing bowl, beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

With a spoon or spatula stir in half of the currants, flour, spices and milk.

Mix in the second half of the dry ingredients and milk until well combined.

Scoop heaped teaspoons of cookie dough and roll into balls. Place the unbaked cookies on the prepared tray about two inches apart. Do not flatten.

Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes. While the cookies are baking place the jam in a small saucepan and warm until thin and smooth.

After removing the cookies from the oven brush with jam and allow to cool on the tray. While the cookies are cooling making the frosting for the crosses.

For the Frosting

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon of water

To make the frosting- mix the icing sugar, cinnamon and water in a small bowl until smooth.

Fill a squeezy bottle or fine tipped piping bag with the cinnamon frosting, pipe a cross on top of each cookie and allow to set.

Easy Easter Egg Cookies

Those of you who live in Australia are likely familiar with the Darrel Lea range of easter eggs and can probably guess which particular egg inspried these cookies. They make an egg that is so completely covered in hundreds and thousands that not even the tiniest bit of chocolate peaks through. I have never been lucky enough to receive a sprinkle egg from the Easter Bunny, so I've taken matters into my own hands and made them in cookie form.
These colourful eggs are a great time saving alternative to decorated sugar cookies, there's no need to be fussy about the icing, just pile on a heap of sprinkles and any imperfections disappear. I added a few fondant details for extra decoration, but feel free to leave it off they look just as fun and festive without them.

The simplicity and ease of decorating these cookies makes them a fun Easter baking option with children, even I had a great time experimenting with different sprinkles. Arm them with some squeezy bottles of royal icing and an array of sprinkles and I can guarantee fun for all. Just one little tip though maybe set up outside to avoid getting hundreds and thousands all over the floor as I did.

Vanilla Sugar Cookies

225 grams unsalted butter (softened)

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

To make the Cookies- Cream together the butter and icing sugar with an electic mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, continue beating until well combine.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl. Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture beating until it forms a dough.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees c. and line baking trays with baking paper.

Working with a 1/4 of the dough at a time, place between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut out eggs and bunnies with cookie cutters, remove the off-cuts and continue using until all the dough is used up.

Transfer the cut cookie shapes to the lined baking tray (1 inch apart) using a knife or spatula. If the cookies are too soft to move place them in the freezer for a minute until they are just firm enough to transfer.

Bake the cookies until just they are just lighty golden, 7-10 minutes. The time will vary oven to oven so keep an eye on the first tray to see how long they take. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool completely on trays.

For the Royal Icing

500 grams icing sugar

15 grams meringue powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

90 mls water

To make the Royal Icing- Add the icing sugar, meringue powder, vanilla and water to a large mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment if possible beat on low until the ingredients come together, increase the speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes until the icing is a smooth toothpaste consistency.

To ice these cookies I used the same consistency of icing for both the lining and the flooding. Thin the icing a little by mixing in a few drops of water at a time until it is just pourable. Fill a squeezy bottle with the icing.

Pipe an outline around the edge of the cookie, wait half a minute before flooding the rest of the cookie with the royal icing. Don't worry if the outline is kind of wonky or if there are air bubbles in the icing like mine, the great part of these cookies is the sprinkles hide everything.

While the icing is still wet place the cookie in a bowl or container to avoid mess and cover with sprinkles.

Tap off excess sprinkles and allow icing to set.
The sprinkle cookies are pretty cute just as they are but if you want that little more detail add some fondant bows.

Roll fondant out thinly, cut two 1cm strips long enough to fit across the egg cookies. Brush a tiny bit of water across the middle of the iced cookie and gently press on the strip of fondant, trim off any excess.
Take each end of the other fondant strip and bring them into the center to make a bow shape.
Cut a small rectangle to cover the middle of the bow, stick on with a tiny bit of water and fold over the top and bottom edges. Cut out 2 pieces of fondant to make the ribbon tails.

Attach the bow and ribbons to the cookie with a little brush of water.