Ombre Bunny Mini Cakes

I am just fascinated with any dessert that is individual 

and beautiful and these are just magical.  

Individual desserts just seem more special, 

and with the layers of pink and white - these 

just made me smile while I was making them.

Fortunately, I had all the ingredients at home to 

make the Classic White Cake 

from Cake by Courtney.  

She is local here in Utah, but she posts so 

many of her wonderful recipes online.  

I made my cakes in 4 - 6 inch pans lined with 

parchment paper, then cut the layers in half, 

and finally cut with a round biscuit cutter.  

A full recipe made 6 mini cakes.  

The only thing I changed with her recipe 

was using almond flavoring for my frosting 

rather than vanilla.  

With four layers, they are so tall and wanted to 

become Leaning Towers of Easter - so I 

used bamboo skewers to hold them upright. 

The ears were rolled out of fondant, and I used 

a bunny cookie cutter to cut the ears.  A little 

light corn syrup and a sprinkle of lustre dust 

finished the ears off. 

They were as yummy as they look.  I 

doubt any will last until Easter Sunday, 

but it is always fun to spread holidays out a little. 

Easter Mantel 2020

I brought out a little Easter this week to brighten up 

the home and bring joy to a crazy week full of 

life altering changes.  Hubby and I journaled about 

it on Sunday, and even as we did, we had to look back 

at texts and news articles to see how quickly everything 

was moving and changing.

Everything on the mantel is in blush pinks and florals 

this year and I love it.  It is fresh and pretty and 

feminine.  Once I had a young woman come over 

and she wondered how my husband felt about 

everything being so feminine in my house.  I told her 

he loves it all.  He does have his office which is in darker 

woods.

I started with one of my MacKenzie-Childs urns as the 

centerpiece of my mantle, and I filled it with silk 

peonies and roses that I already had.  

The pink flower garlands are new this year, and I 

used a cluster of pink ribbons to dangle down the front.

These very feminine and sparkly bunnies were from 

Pier I a few years ago.  I saw yesterday that ours was 

going out of business.  That is so sad, as we have loved 

decorating from their store over the years.  

Here is a companion bunny on the other side of the 

mantel.  I used a crystal garland and another garland 

with pink and silver balls to create the base of the 

mantel decor.

The blown glass vase always tops the mantel.  We inherited 

it with our Cabo home, and had it shipped home.  It is 

secured up there with some sticky clay.  We found the artist's 

name on the bottom and searched every gallery we came across, 

until we found his work in a gallery in Wailea.  We were 

shocked at how expensive it was, so it rests permanently, 

up high and hopefully away from little children or thrown 

toys!

The other vases flanking it were from Home Goods 

years ago and I filled them with more blush pink 

peonies from Amazon.  Click here to find them.

Click here for the cherry blossom garlands. 

Click here for the rose bouquets.

Thanks for stopping by for a little Easter decor today!

Hope we all can weather this pandemic together 

and come out of it healthy and well and getting 

back to normal.  

I will be posting this with

Love Your Creativity 

Metamorphosis Monday

Easter Grazing Board

Holidays come and go so quickly, don't they!!

Even though Easter was late in the spring, it

is sad to see it over with.  

We had a lovely family dinner, and all

the kids were able to be here.

 I am always looking for something different to do,

and I have loved making Chocolate Boards lately, 

so I decided to do an Easter Grazing Board for our feast.

The huge board in the background was made by my

son and his wife.  They gave it as a gift to my daughter

last year for Christmas, so I asked to borrow it.  I might 

also have hinted that I would like one of my own!!  It

is six feet in length and makes such a fun anchor for

the grazing board.

I gathered most of my MacKenzie-Childs Courtly 

Check for the feast, and that added an elegance to

the more rustic presentation on the board.

These fun chocolate eggs were found at 

Home Goods this year and they were 

the inspiration for the chocolate part of the 

board.

Look at this beautiful pink marbled one.

Fruits and assorted chocolates filled 

the board. 

I decided to place the meats and cheeses 

on a separate board, to keep them away 

from the desserts.

The space between the boards was filled in with 

leaf lettuce.

The green and purple chocolate bunnies 

also came from Home Goods this year.

I chose buttery croissants and fresh bakery 

bagels for the sandwich bases.

Fresh fruit, chocolate, treats and breads, 

how could you go wrong - something for everyone!

The best part is seeing the reaction of the adults 

when they come in.  Truly, I got one of the best

reactions every from them on this feast!  

We were celebrating a DIL's and a SIL's 

birthday, so my daughter asked for 

Cheesecake Factory's Oreo Dream Cheesecake. 

We topped it with some Cadbury Eggs - our

personal favorite Easter Eggs!!

In addition I made Cadbury Egg Rice Krispie Treats,

Easter Churro Toffee (a spring version of 

Disneyland's Churro Toffee),

and candied pistachios.  My little 3 year old granddaughter 

just loves pistachios, so I thought these would be fun. 

My oldest daughter made these Strawberry Macarons. 

They were half gone by the time they got to our house!!! 

Her oldest daughter, who is 14, has been making 

them by herself, but she had cheer tryouts that day.

We had our celebration on Saturday, so the kids could 

go to their in-laws on Sunday.

The grocery store had these gorgeous 

hydrangeas colored in spring shades, so I 

just had to have them.  The ranunculus blossoms 

are from Trader Joe's. 

The bulbs literally opened for Easter,

and the flowering plum tree was perfect too.

We separate the egg hunt into babies, kids and adults, 

as we don't want injuries!!!

It is a mad race and over in less than a minute, 

then everyone gathers in the living room to 

open their eggs.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter too.

Thanks for visiting to see our Easter 

Grazing Board, of course this would work 

for any time of year, and any occasion.

There is nothing like being able to gather 

together as a family.

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

Surprise Filled Chocolate Bunnies

The smell of chocolate evokes memories of

Easter more than even Christmas.  It reminds me

of the chocolate Easter bunnies we always received

in our baskets, and of memories of my Aunt

Ionia always complaining about how my dad used

to bit the ears off her chocolate Easter bunny

when they were little.  He would just laugh every

time she told on him!

I love to mold chocolate as well as dip it

and I have quite a collection of Easter bunny

molds, vintage metal ones as well as plastic

ones.  Some of the plastic ones I have had for

over 30 years so I guess they technically count

as vintage.  They still have their sticker on them.

I got them for $.75!!

I love to make my own chocolate bunnies, but this 

year I decided it would be fun to make them hollow

and fill them with some treats.

Of course I had to sacrifice one to show you the

treats.  I plan on placing them on top of a cake

and then letting the little ones break them with

a hammer before we slice the cake for Easter Sunday

dinner.

I made up a mixture of favorite Easter candies 

to fill them with.

This is the grand dame of the bunnies.  She takes

about 2 pounds of chocolate to fill.  She is made

from a plastic mold.  

To make the bunnies, melt the temper the chocolate,

or use good quality chocolate coating discs, like

Ghiradelli, and fill half the mold.  Place the mold

pieces together and secure with clips or large

paper clips.  Tilt the mold from side to side to

fill entire mold and shake it to remove bubbles.

Place in fridge for five minutes and then turn 

over to evenly distribute the chocolate.  

Leave in fridge about 15 minutes, and then I

pop it into the freezer for about 5 minutes so

it releases easily from the mold.

Don't worry if you have a problem releasing

one, you can always remelt and try again. 

In order to fill the bunnies with treats, I 

heated a large frosting tip on the stove and

used it to melt a hole in the bottom of the bunnies.

Now she is all ready to fill.

When handling the finished product, use gloves to

keep the heat from your hands from melting

the chocolate.

Next I placed a dab of chocolate on a piece of

parchment paper, big enough to cover the

hole in the bottom of the bunny.  Then quickly

place that over the hole in bunny and then

stand the bunny up while the chocolate dries.

If there is excess chocolate around the base of

the bunny, use a toothpick to cut the excess away

while the chocolate is still liquid.

I had to make a darling white chocolate lamb too.

The bunnies got all dolled up with some eggs and

grass and even a little fondant flower by using melted

chocolate to stick the decorations on.

I can't wait to see the kiddies break open these

fun chocolate bunnies and lamb.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope your

Easter Sunday is wonderful, filled with the

joy of the resurrection and family and friends.

I will be posting with 

Spring and Easter Joys

Carrots in my Garden - Chocolate Covered Strawberry "Carrots"

One new addition to our Easter Feast

this year was 

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Carrots,

fresh from the "dirt" in the garden.

Although we used these for Easter Dinner,

they would be great for a spring or a garden party!

Everyone loves chocolate covered strawberries,

and these were even more intriguing than normal.

These were so easy and fun to make.

I just melted half white chocolate discs and half

orange chocolate discs (although you could use

white and add orange gel food coloring), then

dipped them and topped them with a drizzle

of additional chocolate in a piping bag.

After they cooled, I placed them in my

adorable purple and green polka dotted

egg holder filled with crushed Oreo dirt

 (purchased years ago from my favorite - 

Home Goods). 

Chocolate Covered Strawberry "Carrots"

1 1/2 C. orange candy coating discs,

or half white and half orange for a softer orange

1 quart fresh strawberries, wiped clean with a damp

paper towel

1/2 pkg. Oreos, crushed finely

Melt the candy coating in a microwave safe bowl

for 30 seconds, then stir, even if they don't look

like they need it.  Melt again for 30 seconds, and

stir.  Stop when there are a few lumps left, and let

the heat of the candy in the bowl melt the small lumps.

Holding the strawberries by the tops, dip all around

the strawberry.  Shake off excess, or lightly scrape

the excess on the bottom on the side of the bowl.

Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment

paper.  Do the above with all of the strawberries,

then put a small amount of the remaining coating

in a piping bag.  Heat for a few seconds and stir if

needed.  Cut the tip off, or use a number 2 tip and

pipe a few lines on each one.  Pop in fridge for

a few minutes to harden and set the candy coating.

Place the crushed Oreo crumbs in your desired 

serving dish (an empty egg carton could be cute),

then place the strawberries in, digging them in a

little, like they are peeking out of the garden dirt.

Sprinkle a little dirt on some.

Make and eat the same day for the best results.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries are always one of the

favorites with the little ones, and this year the strawberries

have been so sweet and juicy.

This is how they appeared on the Easter Table -

nestled in purple grass.  I think they will be a regular

for spring and Easter.  

Of course, the kids wanted to know if it was real dirt!

I will be posting with

Share Your Cup Thursday

Foodie Friday

Dishing It and Digging It