The Wooden Spoon Diaries: Easter

By Allison Melton – Special to the Navarro County Gazette

Hello foodie friends! Your favorite Wooden Spoon Diaries chef is here to give you three fast Easter recipes you can make up in a flash and take with you to any event next weekend.

Every year for Easter, I make a bacon and cheese quiche. The quiche is always a big hit, but this year I wanted to add a few other additions to the menu. These three easy recipes can brighten up your Easter weekend festivities, and the whole family will find something they love.

Bunny Skewers – These fruit skewers will bring a pop of color to your table!

Peeps Bunnies (I could only find pink and blue, but I have seen other colors out there)
Fruit of your liking! Making these skewers even more fun, I set the fruit up in the rainbow color order. Don’t forget ROYGBIV!
Wooden skewers – Can be found at H-E-B or Walmart

Dessert Bunny – This adorable dessert cheese ball will put a smile on anyone’s face. This recipe does contain coconut, but that can be omitted and you would just have a rainbow bunny.

Ingredients:

2 blocks of cream cheese, softened
1 cup funfetti cake mix
1/4 cup of sugar (I added 1/8c of sugar because I didn’t want mine overly sweet)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. butter extract (optional)
1 bag of shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup of rainbow sprinkles
8 pink M&Ms
Graham crackers, apples slices, strawberries, and banana slices would all go well with this dessert!

Directions:

With a mixer or a wooden spoon, mix together the cream cheese, cake mix, sugar, vanilla extract, and butter extract.
Once everything is well combined add in rainbow sprinkles
To make the bunny body you will need to divide the mix into 4 balls. 1 large ball ( body) 1 small ball (tail) 2 equal balls (feet)
Roll all 4 parts into the shredded coconut
On your serving platter, place the large ball down first. I made the top of mine more flat so the tail would stick. Next place the tail
Then, take the 2 feet and shape them. Remember, the heel would be in the air. Attach the two feet then add your M&Ms. I used a little bit of the dessert mix on the backs of the M&Ms to make sure they would stick.
Once your bunny is assembled add your treats around the outside!
Chill until ready to eat.

Birds Nest Cake – Wow the crowd with this easy birds nest hack that you can add on top of any cake!

Ingredients:

1 box of vermicelli pasta
Several blocks of melting chocolate (2-3)
1 bag of Cadbury Eggs or any other candy egg.

Nest Directions:

Cover two bowls with plastic wrap- this step is key to molding your nest.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt your chocolate
Add in vermicelli and mix until all pieces are coated.
Pour coated vermicelli into the first plastic wrapped bowl. Push a little bit up the sides and make sure all spaces are even.
Place the second plastic wrapped bowl on top and push down. Pushing down on the bowl will guarantee that your next will have a large enough space for your eggs.
Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Once your nest is set, carefully take it out from between the two bowls.

Assembling your cake:

I started out with a strawberry cake iced with a simple whipped strawberry buttercream.
I then placed my chocolate nest right on top and added about half the bag of candy eggs. I then used the rest of the eggs to decorate the bottom of the cake.
*This nest is not edible, visual only!*