Happy Easter!!!

Tomorrow we are attending a sunrise service at church and are staying for the 8:30 brunch. You bring a dish to share with others. We thought we might also bring along some treats for the kids for coffee hour. My mom, Judy, who lives in Hawaii sent me clippings from the Ladies' Home Journal April 2009 magazine featuring Easter Cupcakes. Perfect timing. I could not resist the cuter than cute Nest Egg decorated tops. I have never attempted to pipe grass frosting before but I think I managed okay. You use tip #233 for grass. Next time I might make my icing a bit stiffer for more defined strands of grass but for a first try I think I did okay.

I also baked a Fruit Filled Coffee Cake and used left over icing from the cupcakes for the drizzle over the cake. Since the frosting has butter I thought the taste might be better than the original recipe. Here is the recipe for the Coffee Cake:

Fruit-Filled Coffee Cake

1 pkg. White Cake Mix (2-layer size)

1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1 cup Sour Cream

3 Eggs

1/4 cup Water

1 can (21 oz) Cherry Pie Filling (or your favorite flavor)

1/2 cup Sliced Almonds

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 Tbst. Milk

Heat oven to 350. Beat first five ingredients with mixer until well blended. Pour into greased and floured 13x9-inch pan; top with spoonfuls of pie filling.

Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; sprinkle with nuts. Cook 10 minutes.

Mix sugar and milk; drizzle over cake. Cool Completely.

Note: If glaze is too thick, add milk by teaspoon fuls until thin enough to drizzle.

The next recipe I am heading back to the kitchen to make is the Mountain Man Breakfast. I make it in one of our Dutch Ovens. When I made it last year there was none left after brunch. Back to the kitchen for me.