Bunny Sugar Cookies-Simple Iced Cookies For Easter

These bunny sugar cookies couldn’t be easier. Use store-bought cookie icing to frost, then sprinkle with sugar to make them fuzzy. I’ve used simple pink and white but you can mix and match any pastels you like to get the perfect assortment.

Bunny Sugar Cookies

 

Best Bunnies Ever:

I’m a sucker for family traditions.  Somewhere along the way I picked up the belief that if you faithfully repeat the same holiday events, music and recipes year after year your kids will grow up with happy memories of childhood.  I think in my kids’ case, the best I can hope for is Stockholm Syndrome but at least I’m trying.  Bunny sugar cookies are my Easter tradition, no exceptions.  Now that the kids are a bit older I’ve given up on elaborately planned Easter baskets and sugar-sweet Easter egg hunts in matching outfits.  But you’re going to have pry the bunny cookies out of my cold, dead, lightly floured hands. I know you probably think you don’t have the time or creativity or whatever to decorate Easter cookies, but I really think you do.  Continue reading “Bunny Sugar Cookies-Simple Iced Cookies For Easter”

Rosewater Buttercream

I’ve been tinkering with the proportions in this Rosewater Buttercream recipe for years.  I first made it as part of a lemon curd filled white cake for Easter.  It was delicious but the buttercream was too sweet, a bit grainy and the rosewater flavor overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the cake. I had all but given up on making this recipe “blogworthy” but then I was helped by some divine intervention.

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Violet Lemon Curd

Every year I try to make something really special with the first spring violets. For the last few years I have attempted to make a violet curd but it always failed, losing its amethyst color and turning gray when I heated it. And since there are a limited number of violets in my yard/neighborhood, I really only get one shot at it a year!

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Lilac and Violet Panna Cotta Tart

Every year I make violet jelly just like my mom taught me when I was a girl. But because the season is so brief and the color of the violet tea is so divine, I’m always looking to make something new and different with the foraged flowers. Last year it was Violet Lemonade, the year before that was Violet and Elderflower Gummies.

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Creamy Violet Sorbet

Creamy Violet Sorbet

I’m always trying to think of new ways to serve up the gorgeous amethyst color of spring violets. This creamy violet sorbet is gorgeous. It looks gorgeous and it tastes gorgeous. This is technically a sherbet (a sorbet with added dairy) but since I can never figure out how to pronounce the word sherbet, I’ve decided it’s a creamy sorbet. It’s just the right amount of tart and sweet with a little floral kick of rosewater. Just like the violet lemonade and violet jelly, it’s the color here that makes it so special.

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Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream

I totally fan-girled last week when I realized my pastry chef crush David Lebovitz had pinned my Earl Grey Lavender Lemon Tart.  To celebrate, I wanted to create a fresh take on the cream-topped tart.  You know those amazing dreams you have when you can fly?  This Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream is what your morning coffee dreams it can do.  A chocolate crust, not-too-sweet dark chocolate filling topped with luscious swirls of deep espresso flavored whipped cream.  It’s rich and it’s elegant.  In my house, it’s also breakfast. Continue reading “Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream”

Realistic Rock Cookies

These realistic rock cookies are so fun and surprisingly straightforward and forgiving to create! Once your cookies are baked and dipped in royal icing, you dilute food gel dye in vodka and just sweep, dot and stripe the cookies willy nilly. The surface of the icing is eaten away by the vodka, roughening the surface. These would be a great gift for the rockhounds in your life, or people you secretly think should eat rocks. Win-win!

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Chocolate Ganache and Red Currant Tart

Fancy Foraging

I love to forage in my urban neighborhood for yummy things I can bake up into an elegant dessert. I’ve foraged violets, spruce, dandelions, and maple leaves in an area of just a few blocks of my home. My mom, who lives on a wonderful piece of land with oodles of amazing edible plants, had some red currants growing and offered some to me. I made them into this simple jam used it to cover a foolproof chocolate tart. Topped with a just-right layer of stabilized whipped cream and dusted with cocoa, this Chocolate Ganache and Red Currant Tart has lovely visual appeal and tastes incredible. I shared with the neighbors and received several texts that simply said, “Grooooaaannnnn” and “Good Lord!” I think that means they liked it.

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Bourbon Butterscotch Pie with Molasses Whipped Cream

Thanksgiving Pie Perfection

My quest for the perfect Thanksgiving pie is over. This Bourbon Butterscotch Pie with Molasses Whipped Cream is going to make you a dessert table hero. Rich and buttery with deep butterscotch flavor, the brown sugar and molasses help cut the sweetness and a crust sturdy enough to resist sogginess. If you’re looking for a non-pie Thanksgiving dessert check out this Cranberry Curd Tart with White Chocolate Mousse, but if you want pie, this is your new best friend.

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Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Ganache

This super sexy fall pie is half pumpkin pie and half chocolate ganache tart. Graham cracker crust, spicy pumpkin filling, and rich chocolate ganache, all topped with real chocolate leaves. This pumpkin pie with chocolate ganache is “the one.”

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