Easter Eats

If you're looking for ideas for your Easter feast, look no further!

The first thing we make every year is hard boiled and dyed eggs.  The kids love it.  I'm not sure they'll ever really grow tired of it.  I never have!  As the years go on the designs get more elaborate and the hands stay cleaner, but the tradition remains the same.

Typically we only hide our plastic eggs, so we have a bunch of hard-boiled eggs available for eating on Easter morning.  These make a quick and easy breakfast for everyone!

Here are some eggs we've decorated in the past.  I do recommend rinsing off the sparkles if you use those!

Sparkly Eggs

Along with your hard boiled eggs for protein, you can't go wrong with a cinnamon treat!  This is a recipe for the absolute best homemade cinnamon buns I've had.  Part of the trick is using the bread machine to make the dough.  It kneads it perfectly and lets the dough rise at the ideal temperature.  The result is smooth, fluffy dough that puffs up just right.  You'll want to try these for sure!

Cinnamon Buns for the Bread Machine

Once it's time for lunch, you'll want to use up some more of those hard boiled eggs.  One of our favorite ways to prepare them is deviled eggs.  My husband can down half a dozen without trying!  Check out this cute version I made inspired by a magazine article.  They are adorable, don't you think?

Deviled Chicks

For lunch we traditionally have ham and potatoes.  I love scalloped, but twice-baked and mashed are also great!  I usually try to get a spiral ham if it's on sale, but sometimes I get the whole, unsliced ham and that's is quite delicious as well.  Typically I skip the glaze because I find the ham just right without it.  If I'm making the whole ham I like to top it with pineapple rings and maraschino cherries. If you do this, be sure and save some of the pineapples and cherries for the recipe below!

For dessert, one of my favorites is pineapple upside down cake.  It's an older recipe and my mom used to make it often for Easter when we were kids.  Follow this link to for a most delicious treat!

If you're not in a sugar coma by this point, check out these adorable cupcakes and cake.  They were, like the deviled chicks, inspired by a magazine article.  I found the marshmallow bunnies while I was out shopping and I thought they would be adorable on these grassy green cakes.  I have no separate post or recipe about the cupcakes, I just thought they were too cute not to include!

To make the cake, just bake up your favorite box mix or other favorite cake recipe.  Pour half into an oven-safe bowl and the remaining into a cupcake tin with liners.  Bake as directed.  Frost with any icing you like, then top with  *grass and decorations.   Here's a recipe for icing if you need it.

*To make the grass, empty a bag of coconut into a bowl and squeeze in a few drops of food color.  Mix until color is evenly distributed.  Voila!  Grass.

The jelly beans, by the way, are Starburst jelly beans, my fave!

Do you have any favorite Easter recipes or traditions?  Comment below to share.


You might also like:

The Best Buttercream Icing
Barbie Cake
Minecraft Birthday Party

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is a traditional Easter recipe from my mother's collection.  I like my mom's recipe but I tweaked it slightly in order to omit the shortening and add a little more pineapple tang.  The original recipe is below and my modifications are in the parentheses.  Enjoy this old fashioned favorite!


Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:
  
1/4 cup butter
5 canned pineapple slices, drained and halved
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup shortening (sub coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup brown sugar
9 maraschino cherries, drained (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 cup milk (sub pineapple juice from can)

Melt butter in 9-inch round cake pan.  Brush sides with butter.  Add brown sugar to butter.  Place over low heat on stove and stir until blended and remove from heat.  Arrange pineapple halves in a pinwheel pattern on top of sugar mixture.  Place cherries in center of pineapple slices.  In a bowl, cream white sugar, salt and shortening (or coconut oil).  Beat in eggs one at a time until fluffy.  Add vanilla.  Mix together flour and baking powder.  Add alternately with milk (or pineapple juice) to creamed mixture. Pour batter over pineapples.  Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Turn onto a serving plate immediately.  Serve with with whipped cream.

Here's the cake I made for Easter without maraschino cherries.  Also, I made it square because my round pan was packed due to us moving!  I'm always ready to improvise.  

You might also like:
Deviled Chicks
Spinach Bread
Lemon Blueberry Cake