Bunny Tails Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

 Here comes Peter Cottontail's - tails!

Hopping down the bunny trail.

  In this month's issue of Southern Living,

I came across these Bunny Tail Bonbons. 

 

 

They reminded me of the

soft cottontail on the back of a wine bunny apron

 

 

 I recently picked up at Pottery Barn. 

You can go back and visit that post of

my Spring visit to Pottery Barn.

 In this recipe, melted white chocolate is mixed with cream

cheese then crushed coconut cookies are added.

 

 

I rolled and scaled each of them at three-quarter's lb.

I made one change to the recipe instructions by

rolling them in the coconut before placing them on  a

half sheet pan to rest in refrigerator overnight to firm up.

The recipe calls for adding the coconut after the night's stay in the frig

then refrigerating for another hour before serving.

 

 

The final tails become these rich and tasty soft balls of sweetness.

I dyed some coconut green to give the tails green "grass" to rest on. 

I did this by putting some coconut into a Ziploc bag along with some

regular liquid food coloring and smooshing and shaking the bag

from the outside until the color was distributd evenly.

 

You can find an easier printable version of the recipe on the

Southern Living's website here.

 

There are so many fun spring ideas out there.

I just love this time of the year, don't you?

 

I will be joining

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Friday

and

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays

 

Thank you for visiting.

 

Fondly,

~Karen

 

 



Spring Has Arrived!

Spring has arrived!

I love Spring. 

Flowering bulbs begin to pop out of the earth after their winter chilling...

Trees are blossoming (my Meyer lemon tree is loaded)...

Birds are chirping...

 

I'm often annoyed at the retail stores for "pushing" us into the

next holiday or the next season too early...

but Spring is always welcomed and as of the 20th we are here...

and Pottery Barn is showing off it's Spring line.

I'm always excited to see what they come up with

and secretly wish they carry over something from the

year before that I wished I had bought - but didn't!

Pottery Barn never fails to disappoint!

Beautiful arrangements of birds in nests...

in a picnic basket!

Plenty of bunnies, including wine bottle decor...

and  not to be missed are their gorgeous tablesettings!

I particularly like the orange, green, and pink napkins

they use here.  The middle of the table is left neutral and

the flatware in the cafe glasses are a surprise.

Now let's just sit back and continue to watch

the earth come alive and enjoy the beauty of Spring!

 

Thank you for visiting.

 

Fondly,

~Karen

 

 

 



Sweet Peas and Cherry Cupcakes

Spring is here, yippee!

We are in Daylight Savings Time when it stays lighter longer...

and Sweet Peas are in bloom!!!

I picked up Sweet Peas at the Farmers' Market this morning.

I got more compliments as I was walking with them

and I told each person they had to smell them as I let them. 

Not only are Sweet Peas gorgeous but Sweet Peas smell amazing.

They are my favorite flowers.  Can you tell?

It was something my grandmother and I planted each year. 

She liked to plant her seeds early September in the So-Cal desert

but I liked to wait until the end of September (sometimes October!)

on the Coast, otherwise mine bloomed in February - too early 

for spring. Seeing these Sweet Peas made me very happy.

I had plans to make cherry cupcakes and these Sweet Peas

colors tied right into the color-scheme - perfectly.

 I found this recipe for a Cherry Flower Power Cake and

Cherry-Almond Butter Frosting on the Better Homes and 

Gardens website here.  Both the cake and the frosting

get their flavor and color from maraschino cherry juice.

I decorated them with fondant flowers, cut-out 

and painted with edible luster dust.  Check back here in 

another day or two and I will show you what I used

to make these fondant flowers.

I decided to pipe my frosting using a large star 

tip, making it look like ice cream on an ice cream cone.

I could taste the maraschino cherry juice in both the

cake and the frosting and it is a nice flavor surprise!

Here is their recipe.  Remember, I made cupcakes instead of the cake

and used fondant instead of their Candy Clay.

Cherry Flower Power Cake

Courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

Makes 24 servings.

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 sticks)

6 egg whites

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 recipe Cherry Frosting

1 recipe Candy Clay (optional)

Directions

1. Allow butter and egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 mins. Meanwhile, grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with butter; line bottom of pan with parchment. Grease paper. flour pan with all-purpose flour; set aside. In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In 2-cup glass measuring cup, combine buttermilk and cherry juice; set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 35 degrees F. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add sugar, vanilla, and almond extract; beat until combined.  Add egg whites a little at a time, beating well after each addition  Alternately, add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beating on low after each addition until combined.

3. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45 mins. or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 mins. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Cherry-Almond Butter Frosting

Courtesy Better Homes and Gardens

Yield: 4 1/2 cups.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

8 cups powdered sugar

6 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice or milk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Additional maraschino cherry juice

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter with mixer on medium until smooth. Gradually beat in 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Slowly beat in cherry juice or milk and almond extract. Gradually beat in remaining powdered sugar. If necessary, beat in additional juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, to reach spreading consistency.

Tip: If milk is used instead of cherry juice, use red food coloring to tint the frosting pink.

Happy Spring, Happy Easter, and Enjoy!

This week I will be joining

Seasonal Sunday

Thank you for visiting!

Fondly,

Karen