easter

Count Down To Easter

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Sponge Cake Diamonds

Sponge Cake Diamonds

 Cake

  • 1 pkg. Yellow Cake Mix
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup cherry preserves, warmed

 Topping

  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • Slivered almonds

 Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13X9-inch pan; line with waxed paper and grease again. In large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil, almond extract and eggs at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at highest speed. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; carefully remove cake from pan. Remove waxed paper from cake; cool cake completely. Slice cake in half horizontally to make 2 layers. Spread bottom layer evenly with preserves; place remaining layer on top. Cut cake into diamonds. In small bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and almond extract; beat until stiff peaks form. Carefully frost tops of cake diamonds with whipped cream mixture. Garnish with slivered almonds. 24 cake diamonds.

 Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

 THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

 

Count Down To Easter

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Fruit-Filled Ring Cake

Fruit-Filled Ring Cake

Cake

  • 1 pkg. Lemon Cake Mix
  • 3-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Filling

  • 1 ½ cups cold milk
  • 3 ½ oz. pkg. instant lemon pudding and pie filling mix
  • ½ cup whipping cream, whipped
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
  • 2 cups fresh summer fruits, cut up

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 12 –cup fluted tube pan. In large bowl, combine all cake ingredients at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at highest speed. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool upright in pan 20 minutes; invert onto wire rack. Cool completely. Using sharp knife, remove ½ inch thick slice from top of cake; set slice aside. Using spoon, hollow out center of cake, leaving ½ inch of cake at bottom and sides. Place on serving plate. Spread the cream and fruit in the hollow in that bottom of the cake and place the top of the cake back on, and spread on top with the remaining filling, and decorate with fruit. Refrigerated before serving.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Count Down To Easter

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Big Cheek Bunny Cake1

Big Cheek Bunny Cake

  • 1 Package (18 ¼ ounces) cake mix (any flavor), plus ingredients to prepare mix
  • Fluffy White Frosting (recipe follows)
  • 2 cups shredded coconut, tinted pink
  • 2 purchased coconut-covered cupcakes
  • Red string licorice
  • Assorted candies
  • 1 (15 X 10-inch) cake board, covered, or large tray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8- or 9 –inch round baking pans. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpicks inserted into centers come out clean. Let cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to racks; cool completely. Prepare Fluffy White Frosting. Cut out cake pieces from 1 cake round as shown below. Position cakes on prepared cake board. Connect pieces with small amount of frosting. Frost cake with remaining frosting; sprinkle with coconut. Decorate with cupcakes, licorice and candies as shown in photo or as desired.

Big Cheek Bunny Cake4

Fluffy White Frosting: Combine 1 (16-ounce) container vanilla frosting and ¾ cup marshmallow crème in medium bowl; mix well. Makes about 2 cups frosting.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Count Down To Easter

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Eclectic Egg Cookies

Eclectic Egg Cookies

 Cookies:

  • 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 ½ sticks (1/2 pound plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoons almond extract
  • ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 ¾ cups all- purpose flour

 Frosting:

  • 4 large pasteurized egg whites
  • ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoons almond extract
  • 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 to 6 teaspoons milk, if needed
  • Food coloring gel – spring colors
  • Desired decorations

 For the cookies: In a large bowl, with electric mixer at high speed, beat the powdered sugar, butter egg yolks, salt almond extract, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the flour and beat on low speed until large clumps of dough form. The dough will look too dry at first, so be patient. Pour the dough clumps onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Gather into a ball & flatten into a disk. Cover with a second sheet of plastic wrap and roll to 1/8 inch thickness. It will be a very large piece of dough. Slide onto a rimmed baking sheet to keep the dough flat and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Discard the plastic wrap. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Stamp out cookies with cutters of your choice. Simple shapes with clean edges work best. Arrange the cookies on the lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden brown on the edges, 12-15 minutes, depending on size. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet.

For the frosting: In a large glass or metal bowl, with electric mixer at low speed, beat the egg whites until frothy. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract. With the mixer running, add the powder sugar 1 cup at a time. Beat on low speed until smooth Increase the speed to high and beat until still, shiny peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Decorate the cookies as desired.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies depending on size & shape

 Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

 THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

 

Getting Ready For Easter

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Easter Basket Cake

Easter Basket Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 package cake mix of desired flavor
  • 1 container (16 oz.) chocolate frosting
  • Green food coloring
  • ½ tsp. water
  • 1 cup flaked coconut
  • Assorted Easter candies
  • 2 (12 inch) chenille stems
  • Pastel ribbon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. Prepare, bake and cool cake following package directions for basic recipe. Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread with chocolate frosting. Top with second cake layer. Frost top with thin layer of frosting. Frost sides and outer 1 inch of cake top with remaining frosting. Make basket weave pattern in frosting with fork lines. Combine several drops green food coloring and water in small bowl. Add coconut. Toss with fork until evenly tinted. Place tinted coconut on top of basket for grass. Arrange candies on top. Make handle with chenille stem ends twisted together. Wrap handle with ribbon. Insert in cake. Tie bow on side of handle.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Getting Ready For Easter

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Triple Berry Hot Cross Buns

Triple Berry Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients:

  • 1 package regular or quick active dry yeast
  • ¾ cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
  • ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1 ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup dried blueberries
  • 1/3 cup dried cherries
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp. cold water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, 2 eggs and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in cranberries, blueberries, cherries and enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead about 5 minutes or until smooth springy. Place in large greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover and let rise in warm place about 1 ½ hours or until double. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.) Grease cookie sheet. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. Divide dough in half. Divide each half into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Snip a cross shape in top of each ball with scissors. Cover and let rise in warm place about 40 minutes or until double. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Beat 1 egg and cold water slightly; brush over tops of buns. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool 5 minutes. Frost cross to top of each bun with Powdered Sugar Icing. Serve warm.

Powdered Sugar Icing:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp. milk or water
  • ½ tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients until smooth and spreadable.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Easter Cupcakes- Sweet Treat Saturday

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Easter Cupcakes
Easter Cupcakes
What we decorated our cupcakes with
What we decorated our cupcakes with

Welcome back to “Sweet Street Saturday!” 
One of the most fun things to do is to make & decorate cupcakes. Here’s a simple and easy way to do both. One tip that will make this more enjoyable is to take care to fill the baking cup with the right amount of cake batter.
As a guide fill the cups about 2/3 full.
Happy Cup-Caking!

Ingredients:

  • 5 tbsp lightly salted butter, softened
  • 1.2 cup superfine sugar
  • Generous ½ cup self-rising flour
  • 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:IMG_0872

  1. Line 5 sections of a muffin pan with paper baking cups and preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Put all the cake ingredients into a bowl and beat with a hand-held electric beater until pale and creamy
  3. Divide the batter between the baking cups and bake for about 25 minutes until risen and just firm. Leave for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool.
  4. Decorate as desired. Get creative!

FullSizeRender (3)

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo byTHASC.
THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.
www.thasc.com

Easter Simnel Cake

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Easter Simnel Cake
Easter Simnel Cake

If you love marzipan, this is the cake for you!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup superfine sugar
  • 1 ¼ sticks butter, softened
  • 2 cups self-rising flour
  • 4 large eggs
  • Finely grated zest of 1 orange
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 2/3 cups golden raisins
  • 1 cup chopped dried apricots
  • ¼ cup finely chopped crystalized ginger
  • 1 pound marzipan, divided (be sure to use only marzipan, not almond paste)

Topping:

  • 2 tablespoons apricot jam
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder, to decorate
  • Fresh flowers or sugar flowers, to decorate

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch round springform pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Mix the sugar, butter, flour, eggs, orange zest and spice together in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add the raisins, apricots, and ginger and mix well. Spoon half of the cake mixture into the base of the pan. Roll one third of the marzipan out into a 9 inch circle and place on top of the cake batter. Spoon the remaining cake batter on top of the marzipan and level.

Bake for 1 ¾ to 2 hours, until gold brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the pan and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, roll another third of the marzipan out to a 9 inch circle. When the cake is cold, melt the jam in a small saucepan, then brush it over the top of the cake and put the marzipan circle on top. Divide the remaining third of marzipan into 11 pieces and shape into little balls by rolling them between your palms. Sprinkle the balls with cocoa powder and position them around the edge of the cake. Arrange fresh flowers or sugar flowers in the center of the cake to finish off the decoration.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.
THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.
www.thasc.com

Peeps Sunflower Cake- Sweet Treat Saturday

NF1 Comment
Peep Sunflower Cake
Peep Sunflower Cake

You will need:

  • 1 package yellow cake mix
  • 2 cans chocolate frosting
  • 19 yellow chick peeps candies
  • 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

What to do:

Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using two greased and waxed paper-lined 9 inch round baking pans. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cook completely; carefully remove waxed paper.

IMG_0875IMG_0874Level tops of cakes. (see right –>)
Spread frosting between layers and over the top and sides of cake.

Without separating peeps and curving slightly to fit, arrange chicks around edge of cake for sunflower petals. For sunflower seeds, arrange chocolate chips in center of cake.

Prep time: 15 minutes Bake time: 30 minutes + cooling
This makes about 12 servings.

Enjoy!
Enjoy!

Tested in theTHASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.
THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.
www.thasc.com

Peter Rabbit Cake

NF1 Comment


A really fun cake to make for Easter!

Peter Rabbit Cake
Peter Rabbit Cake

Ingredients:

Step #1
Step #1
Step #2
Step #2
Step #3
Step #3
  • 1 package white cake mix
  • 1 can vanilla frosting
  • 1 ¾ cups flaked coconut, divided
  • 2 drops red food coloring
  • 2 drops green food coloring
  • Assorted jelly beans
  • 1 stick black licorice, cut lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips

Directions:

Step #1– Mix and bake cake according to package directions, using two greased and floured 9 inch pans. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. For bunny’s head, place one of the cakes on a 20 inch x 14 inch covered board.

Step #2– Cut remaining cake into two ears and one bow tie.

Step #3– Place ears 4 inches apart on top of head. Place bow tie so it fits in curve of head.

Step #4– Frost top and side of head, ears and bow tie. Sprinkle 1 ¼ cups coconut over head and ears. Divide remaining coconut between two resealable plastic bags; add red food coloring to one bag and green to the other. Seal bags and shake to coat. Place pink coconut on ears to within ½ inch of the edges. Place green coconut around the cake.

Step #5– Use jelly beans for eyes, nose and to decorate bow tie. Cut the licorice into seven 2 inch pieces and seven ¾ inch pieces. Place six 2 inch pieces next to nose for whiskers. Bend the remaining 2 inch piece into a semicircle and place ¾ inch below nose for mouth. Connect nose to mouth with one ¾ inch piece. Place three ¾ inch pieces above each eye for eyelashes.

These are the decorations we used. Get creative!
These are the decorations we used. Get creative!

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo byTHASC.
THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.
www.thasc.com