When Easter arrives, I always feel as though Spring is in full bloom. It is such a wonderful time of the year. The kids love to color hard boiled eggs, and no matter how big they are, they always love a good old fashioned Easter Egg Hunt.

I have lots of recipes for you on baking911.com to make your day a delicious one ! I have easy as well as more complex ones; all designed to make your day a delicious and celebratory one.

FINALLY ! A WAY TO DYE EASTER EGGS WITH VIBRANT COLORS: I have always wanted to dye my Easter eggs with deep colors, and I finally discovered a way to do it from wilton.com: Create a rainbow of colored eggs using Paste colors. Experiment with different colors, using a test egg to try out different combinations!  

Colored Easter Eggs:
Using a deep cup or bowl, place a glob of paste color or a few drops of gel color.
Add approximately 1 Tablespoon of boiling water and stir to dissolve completely.
Add 1 Tablespoon of White (aka distilled) vinegar. (The vinegar helps to set the color.)
Stir in 3/4 cup of boiling water.
Add a hard cooked egg to prepared solution and allow to remain in the mixture until the desired color is obtained.
The longer the egg remains in the mixture, the darker it becomes.
Remove the egg to an empty egg carton to dry.

Luster Dust Eggs (from Nicholas Lodge):
Dye eggs as directed above and allow to dry completely.
Brush entire egg with Super Pearl Dust, etc. for dramatic effect.
Option: Use Gold or Silver Highlighter Dust mixed with a little Lemon Oil to paint special designs, names, initials, etc. directly onto the egg.

MOLDED CHOCOLATE AND CANDY

If you feel industrious, try making chocolate bunnies and candies from a mold. I have complete instructions on how to do it; just click on Chocolate Molds 101. Plastic molds are available from cake decorating stores.  Chocolate truffles are so delicious, especially the Peanut Butter Chocolate Truffle Recipe.

Make Easter Eggs from Sugar Molds - place in your Chocolate Nests. (You can even make a Sugar Container for candy. Use a small mixing bowl).

2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon liquid food coloring
3 teaspoons egg whites, lightly stirred (for safe -- use pasteurized egg white powder, reconstituted, enough for one - two egg whites.)

Place sugar in bowl, add food coloring and egg white and knead with your hands until well blended. Pack firmly into mold and level top with a spatula. Cover mold with cardboard, turn over and lift mold off. (For sparkle, immediately dust with edible glitter.

Dry thoroughly, about five hours. For a large hollow mold, place in 200'F oven five minutes. Carefully tip sugar mold into your palm and scoop out damp sugar inside with a teaspoon. Replace on cardboard and dry thoroughly about 24 hours. Yield: two large sugar molds or can make small molds.

CAKES

Every year, I make a Fresh Coconut Frosted Cake with tinted coconut. Go easy on the colors used to tint because they are very strong. The recipe can be made into cupcakes, too.

How about decorating a cake for Easter ? Bake a simple Butter Cake and embellish it with buttercream icing with piped borders. There is even a basketweave design that can be piped on the side of a cake. With piping, decorating can get as simple or as complex as you want. 

I like to make an Easter centerpiece with handmade, edible marzipan fruits and vegetables. They always look so "Spring-like" and can be placed with colored Easter eggs or chocolates. Forming marzipan is a great project to do with kids; it can be tinted and hand formed into any shape.  

Petits Fours are those tiny decorated cake pieces which always look so nice on an Easter dessert table. You can make your own or buy an already baked cake as the foundation. 

I like to make an Angel Food Cake for dessert. It is so versatile, plus light and airy and can be made in many flavors: Angel Food Cake, Basic - with a lemon glaze; and Angel Food Cake, Double Chocolate. (You can even cheat and buy one from the grocery store). 

Here are some Angel Food Cake serving ideas:

Top with chocolate and caramel sauces, sprinkled with toasted chopped almonds or coconut.whipped cream. Drizzle with a glaze, such as a Chocolate Ganache Glaze (or an Easy Chocolate Ganache), a Basic Powdered Sugar Glaze or Easy Flavored Glazes. Serve with an easy Raspberry sauce for a stunning dessert. Dark Chocolate Ganache Mousse can be spooned in between the layers (Slice cake horizontally with a serrated knife). Replace the top layer on it, press lightly and serve.

Because it contains no fat, an Angel food cake is perfect as a healthy dessert. Serve as is with a Fresh Pear compote or fresh fruit. Fill by cutting the cooled cake in half  horizontally with a serrated knife. Then, hollow out the bottom section and fill with my Reduced-Fat Custard. Sprinkle some  (canned and drained) Mandarin oranges slices on top. Then, place the top section back on, pressing lightly into place. Finish with an Apricot or an easy Orange Glaze. Make an Angel Food Shortcake: Fill layer (as above) with my Reduced-fat Whipped Cream. Sprinkle some fresh sliced strawberries on it and replace the top, pressing lightly. Serve with a Fresh Strawberry Compote --Yum! YUM! An Angel food cake is perfect for making a low-fat Trifle with.

EVERYONE CAN ENJOY CAKE!

Everyone deserves to eat cake on Easter! I have recipes for a Versatile Gluten-Free Yellow Cake; Sarah's Sugar-free White Cake; Reduced Fat White Cake and more!

BREAD

YUM !! Easter Pistachio Swirl Bread - made from frozen dough from the grocery store.

I always make an Easter Dinner and with it, I serve freshly made Dill Rolls .