Easter

Welcome back readers!

LOVED all your cute Easter party ideas, recipes and traditions! I think I might have to try the hidden jelly bean in the cupcake idea for my younger cousins. And five you lucky and random commenters will be able to have your own fun with this Easter basket prize. Congratulations to Lucy (March 22, 2012 at 3:06 pm), Sharmila (March 24, 2012 at 6:39 pm), Will (March 27, 2012 at 6:32 am), Arvind (March 27, 2012 at 1:19 pm), and Ben G (March 29, 2012 at 10:27 am)! Please send your shipping info to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I can send over your Flowers of Spring gift basket!

We have another week of Easter to talk about! Last week we pulled together some fun DIY activities and decorations to try out for your own Easter party, so this week I was thinking that we would talk about one of the more important aspects to any party: the desserts. Of course, this is mostly because I had a mini Cupcake War marathon the other day and have since been living on The Food Network website and drooling over every idea I see.

The way I see it, traditional and easy is always best. We can all go crazy on the decorating part after it’s made, but I think an easy to make yet incredibly delicious carrot cake would be a great main dessert for any Easter party (also this recipe is from Alton Brown who’s show Good Eats happens to be one of my absolute favorites).

Alton Brown's Carrot Cake

What you need:

• Unsalted butter (for the pan)
• 12 oz. (approx. 2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour, plus extra for pan
• 12 oz. grated carrots (medium grate)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/3 cup sugar
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 6 oz. plain yogurt
• 6 oz. vegetable oil
• Cream Cheese Frosting (store bought or see recipe below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a 9-inch round and 3-inch deep cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.

In the bowl of the food processor combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.

With the processor still running drizzle in the vegetable oil. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake reaches 205 to 210 degrees F in the center.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow cake to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting after cake has cooled completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium just until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar in 4 batches and beat until smooth between each addition.

Place the frosting in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes before using.

Makes approximately 2 cups

If you’re feeling daring, try out these two other cake recipes from The Food Network and maybe send in some pictures! I’m really interested to see if anyone can pull off the Peeps cake!

• Peeps Cake
• Raspberry Lemon Easter Cake

Since you’ll be doing everything else on your own from the decorations, games to this awesome cake, I have a few suggestions of unique treats to order in as fun side desserts or table sweets!

My top Easter dessert picks:

Rich Easter Egg-Shaped Mini Brownie Cakes: So rich and “egg-cellent” (I’m sorry, I had to!) little cakes. They come in orders of 6 confection-dipped, Easter decorated brownie cakes and are easy to share and leave out as fun and festive treats.

Happy Easter Truffle Cake Pops: Just as delicious as the brownie cakes, these are our chocolate truffle cake pops decorated for Easter. They come in orders of 6 and you’ll be lucky if they last more than 6 seconds once you set them out!

Happy Easter Belgian Chocolate Covered Oreo® Tin: So cute, so festive! These Oreos® are decorated in bright Spring colors and topped with egg and bunny designs. So rich and delicious, they’ll be hard to share. Come in an order of 16 cookies.

Hope this has you feeling a little inspired (and mostly really hungry)! Tell me in the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) what kind of Easter desserts you’ll be trying out. FIVE lucky and random winners will receive the Easter Truffle Cake Pops!

Happy Baking!