Happy Easter! Recipes



"I hope that you and your family have a Happy Easter!  These adorable cupcakes or a slice of Bunny Banana Cheesecake would be a sweet ending to your Easter dinner!"

Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Almond Buttercream Frosting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vanilla Almond Cupcakes 

1 white cake mix (eggs, oil and water called for on the box)

1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Follow the directions on the cake mix, adding almond and vanilla extracts. Pour batter into cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full.  Bake following box instructions for cupcakes.   Allow cupcakes to cool completely and frost and decorate.

 

Whipped Vanilla Almond Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup shortening

1 stick or 1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/2 of a 2 pound bag of powdered sugar, or you can use a 1 pound box

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons almond extract

desired amount of green food coloring (I used 6 drops to make a light green color.)

candy decorations, if desired

Using the whip attachment of your mixer, whip together butter and shortening. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until all combined. Add vanilla and almond extracts. Color with food coloring.  Frost cupcakes and decorate.  (I used a Wilton #233 tip to pipe the frosting on the cupcakes to resemble grass for the little bunnies to sit in.)  Store cupcakes in the refrigerator until needed.

*TIP:  If frosting is too thick, you can thin it out with milk.  I have also used corn syrup to thin the frosting, which gives the icing a nice sheen.

To see more yummy cupcake recipes, please visit my Kandy's Kupcakes page:
http://kandyskitchenkreations.blogspot.com/p/kandys-kupcakes.html

 

 

 Bunny Banana Cheesecake

 

Crust

1-3/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1 stick or 1/2 cup of butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Set aside 1/2 cup of mixture to sprinkle on top of cheesecake. Press remaining mixture in bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before filling.

 

Cheesecake Layer

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 (8 ounce) container of non-dairy whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed and divided

3-4 bananas, sliced

1-3/4 cup milk

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant banana cream or vanilla pudding mix

 

Beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Fold in 2 cups of Cool Whip. Place half of the banana slices on the bottom of the cooled crust and top with half of the cream cheese mixture. Arrange remaining banana slices on top and cover with remaining cream cheese mixture. Whisk together milk and pudding mix. Allow to sit for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Fold in remaining Cool Whip. Pour over cream cheese layer and spread evenly. Sprinkle top of cheesecake with reserved 1/2 cup of crust mixture. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

 

TIP: Of course you can eat the cheesecake without decorating it and it will be DELICIOUS! The following directions will show you how I decorated the cheesecake for Easter, but you could decorate it for any holiday, including Birthdays.

Easter Decorations:

I used the following ingredients to decorate my cheesecake, but feel free to use any Easter candy to decorate yours.

 

Easter Marshmallow bunnies (Peeps)

malted milk eggs

Pastel sprinkles

To decorate the cheesecake, I stood 4 marshmallow bunnies in a circle in the center of the cheesecake, pushing down slightly to help them stand. I then scattered the malted milk eggs around the bunnies and placed the pastel sprinkles around he edge of the cheesecake.

  

 

Visit my MooseCreek CheeseCakes page to see more cheesecake recipes.

http://kandyskitchenkreations.blogspot.com/p/moosecreek-cheesecakes.html