Bunny Cake
Cake mix - baked to form two circular cakes
Frosting (either homemade or store bought)
Licorice for whiskers - M&Ms for decoration
You have two circular cakes, as though each would normally be one layer of a birthday cake. One is the head. The other is used the make ears and a bow tie.
Cut the two ears out of either side of the circular cake, and then the center becomes a bow tie.
Assemble the pieces, put frosting on it, and decorate it, making a face on it, etc. We used white frosting for most of it, and pink frosting for the center of the ears. I think we used licorice for whiskers, and put M&Ms all over the bow tie.
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Chocolate Easter Eggs
1 cup soft butter
2 tsp salt
4 tsp vanilla
1 can condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
10 cups icing sugar
1 tsp. yellow food coloring
1 lb. semisweet chocolate
Method:
Beat butter, salt and vanilla until fluffy. Add milk, beat in sugar. Blend until stiff. Dust with brown sugar. Knead til smooth.
Set aside more then 2/3 of mixture. To the remaining mixture add yellow food coloring. Blend in well. Divide yellow and white into 16 or 24 pieces. Shape yellow into ball, mould white around yellow to form an egg shape. Dry at room temperature on paper towels for 24 hours.
Melt chocolate in double boiler or in microwave until smooth. Dip eggs in chocolate. (paraffin wax may be added and melted with chocolate to prevent chocolate from melting in your hands). Once dipped cool at room temperature. Refrigerate after cool.
When sliced these eggs will have a white cream filling with a yellow filling that appears to be the yolk. They look nice sitting in an Easter basket!!
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Easter Ham
1 7 - 8 pound fully cooked smoked ham shank
1 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
whole cloves
Combine syrup, vinegar and mustard. Place ham, fat side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Pour about 1/2 cup mixture over ham and bake, uncovered, in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1-1/2 hours. Baste every 30 minutes with additional sauce. Remove ham from oven and score fat into diamond shapes. Insert a clove into each diamond. Bake ham an additional 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of meat registers 140 degrees. Let ham rest 15 minutes before carving. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
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Italian Easter Bread
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup warm milk -- 120-130 degrees
2 Tablespoons butter -- softened
7 eggs
1/2 cup mixed candied fruit -- chopped
1/4 cup blanched almonds -- chopped
1/2 teaspoon anise seed
Vegetable oil
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, yeast and
salt. Add milk and butter; beat 2 minutes on med. Add 2 eggs
and 1/2 cup flour; beat 2 minutes on high. Stir in fruit,
nuts and aniseed; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour
to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board;
knead until smooth, 6-8 min. Place in a greased bowl; turn
once. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled;
about 1 hour.
If desired, dye remaining eggs (Leave the
uncooked); lightly rub with oil. Punch dough down. Divide in
half; roll each piece into a 24" rope. Loosely twist ropes
together; place on a greased baking sheet and form into a
ring. Pinch ends together. Gently split ropes and tuck eggs
into openings. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30
min. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden
brown. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.
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Glazed Ham
1 10-12 lb uncooked ham
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 cups apricot jelly
16 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1-1/4 pounds drained pineapple slices
2 teaspoons dry mustard
Toothpicks
Preheat oven to 350 . Place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan and bake for about 3 hours. Score 1/4 inch deep cuts around the outside of the ham in a diamond pattern. Combine apricot jelly, cloves, mustard and vinegar in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until the jelly has melted. Spread mixture around the outside of the ham. Stud ham with the whole cloves. Attach pineapple rings to ham with toothpicks. Return ham to oven, baste occasionally with remaining apricot sauce, and bake until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees F. Remove ham from oven. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
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Roasted Vegetables
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound peeled and cubed sweet potatoes
1 pound peeled and cubed turnips
10 cloves unpeeled garlic
1 pound chopped onions
2 teaspoons crumbled sage
1/2 pound peeled and cut carrots
2 teaspoons crumbled rosemary
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Heat a large heavy roasting pan in oven for 15 minutes. Coat pan with half the oil and add vegetables, garlic and herbs. Drizzle remaining oil over vegetables in pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Seal tightly with aluminum foil and roast in oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and roast 15-20 minutes more, or until vegetables are tender.
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Layered Salad
1/4 head iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 medium chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup bacon pieces
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
5 ounces frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 cup croutons
1 peeled and shredded carrot
Arrange lettuce in the bottom of a deep baking dish. Sprinkle with bacon pieces. Layer with remaining vegetables and sprinkle with cheese. Combine salad dressing and sugar in a bowl. Spread over top of salad. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. Just before serving, toss and add croutons.
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Kentucky Glazed Ham
1 8-10 pound ham of your choice
¾ cup bourbon
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon orange marmalade
Cloves for decoration
Bake ham as directed by packer. About 30 minutes before ham is done, remove it from oven.
If your ham has a rind, when it is cool enough to handle, cut away the rind and trim the fat about ½ inch thick. Score by cutting deeply in a crisscross pattern.
Increase the oven temperature to 450 F. With a pastry brush, paint the ham all over with bourbon. Then combine the remaining bourbon with the brown sugar, coriander, mustard, and orange marmalade and pat the mixture firmly around the ham. Stud with cloves, if desired. Return ham to oven for 30 minutes more. Ham will have an appetizing and beautiful glaze.
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Easter Blueberry Salad
1 large pkg. black cherry Jello
2 cups boiling water
1 can blueberries
15 oz. can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 Dream Whip (one pkg)
Mix Jello with boiling water. Drain blueberries and add juice to Jello. Cool. Set aside 3/4 cup Jello and juice; add blueberries, pineapple and nuts to Jello. Refrigerate until well set. Mix Dream Whip as directed on box, then slowly add the cooled 3/4 cup Jello and juice to Dream Whip. Continue beating until lavender in color; top salad.
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Bird's Nests
1 bag Reeses peanut butter chips (10 oz. )
1 TBSP. solid shortening
1 large can (5oz.) thin chow mein noodles
1 bag pastel colored M&M peanut candy
Melt entire bag of chips and 1 tbsp. of shortening slowly in microwave or in double boiler on stove top. If using microwave, heat full power in intervals of 30 seconds at a time and then less as chips begin to melt. You want the chips and shortening to be well blended and creamy and hot. DO NOT OVERCOOK!!!
Immediately pour the can of chow mien noodles into the peanut butter mixture and toss lightly to coat noodles. Avoid crunching noodles. Using a spatula can help. Do this quickly, making sure the noodles are evenly coated. Drop by spoonfuls onto WAX PAPER and gently form into the shape of a nest, leaving a hollowed area in the center in which you immediately place three M&M peanut candies for the "birds eggs".
Helps to have two people! Each batch makes approximately 14 nests.
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Greek Easter Lamb
5 pounds leg of lamb boneless
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons garlic minced
1/2 cup parsley chopped
1/2 cup dill chopped
4 tablespoons oregano rubbed
black pepper
Whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic, parsley, dill, and oregano. Butterfly the lamb and pepper generously on both sides. Cut some slits in the meat. Marinate the lamb for 2 to 24 hours
Drain marinade from lamb and put lamb in 425F oven in shallow roasting pan for about 45 minutes. You want an internal temperature of 135F. Let lamb rest before serving
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Hot Cross Buns
1 pkg. yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon plus 1 tsp. white sugar
4 cups flour (2 c. white & 2 c. whole wheat)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/4 cup butter -- softened
2 eggs -- lightly beaten
1 cup raisins
Put the yeast, warm water and 1 tsp. white sugar in a small bowl,stir and set aside until frothy about 10 minutes. Put the flour, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a bowl and whisk together. Put the butter into 1 cup of the warm milk and let it melt. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, the warm milk mixture and the eggs. Mix until blended, then add the currants or raisins and knead until you have a smooth dough, soft but not sticky about 5 minutes in an electric mixture, 10 minutes by hand. (Add a little extra milk if you need it to get the right consistency.)
Cover with a plastic bag or plastic wrap and leave in a draft-free spot until the dough has doubled in bulk 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down; shape into 16 to 18 balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with a sheet of plastic, place in a warm spot and allow to rise again until the buns are almost double in volume about 20-30 minutes. Now with a very sharp knife or razor, make a quick cross on top.
Preheat the oven to 400F. Allow the buns to recover from the cross-making for 10-15 minutes, then bake for 12-15 minutes or until they sound hollow when you rap the bottoms.
Make a glaze by boiling 2 Tbs. of the remaining milk with the 1Tbs. of sugar until it is very bubbly. Brush the glaze on the buns as you take them from the oven it makes them shiny. Makes 16-18 buns. Drizzle frosting on buns to make a cross.
Vanilla frosting: Stir together 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, 1 to 2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
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Easter Stollen
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. mace
1/4 cup warm water
2 pkg. yeast
2 eggs, beaten
5 to 6 cups flour
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup slivered almonds
slivered almonds for topping
candied fruit or maraschino cherries
Glaze
2 tsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Scald milk; stir in shortening, sugar, salt and mace.
Cool to lukewarm. Measure warm water in large bowl. Dissolve
yeast in water; stir well. Add eggs and 3 cups flour. Beat
until smooth. Stir in raisins and almonds, then remaining
flour.
Knead for about 10 minutes. Cover and let rise until double in size.
Divide into 3 portions (1 small, 1 medium
and 1 large). Roll each into long rolls (each will be a
different length). Cut each roll into three strips and braid.
Place largest braid on cookie sheet. Place medium braid on
largest and smallest braid on top.Cover and let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes
. Decorate with glaze and slivered almonds, candied fruit
or maraschino cherries.
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Ricotta Easter Pie
Crust:
1/2 lb. butter or margarine
4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
4 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Filling:
3 lb. Ricotta cheese
8 to 9 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar (maybe more)
1/2 rind of orange and lemon
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. Anisette or whiskey
Mix together crust ingredients until it forms a nice
ball of dough, then roll with rolling pin until dough is
1/4-inch thick and place in a lightly greased baking dish
(lasagne size). Save a few strips of dough to place on top of
pie.
Fill pie shell with Ricotta filling. Make strips of
dough and place lengthwise and crosswise on top of filling and
bake for 1 hour in a 350 degrees oven.
You'll love it!
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Easter Recipes