Finally, a truly Easter themed recipe! I originally wanted to make Cake Pops for Easter, but with everything else going on, we decided to move that project out and make these Easter Basket Cupcakes instead. The recipe starts with a fairly basic vanilla cupcake. If you don’t have cake flour, feel free to substitute all purpose flour and cornstarch as suggested here in the Joy of Baking. Then you make a powdered sugar icing, which we chose to leave white. Finally, you add green tinted coconut, and some type of egg shaped candy. We had a cupcake assembly line going so it didn’t take long at all. They came out so cute, and tasted great although the frosting was almost too sweet. But not so sweet that I couldn’t finish the cupcake of course. It was the perfect little treat to end our meal!

One of the best things about going south for Spring Break is the fresh local fruit. The strawberry season in New England is short, and feels far away right now. But in Florida, there is a crop picked in early winter. So armed with a pile of local strawberries, we got to enjoy strawberry shortcake in March. First, we cleaned and sliced the strawberries, and placed them in a bowl with just a pinch of sugar.

We debated making the shortcakes with Bisquick, but with the pantry items on hand, it was just as easy to make these Buttermilk Biscuits. They came together in less than a half an hour.

After dinner, we sliced the biscuits and added the strawberries and some whipped cream. OK, here we used Cool Whip, but for a more authentic version, you could whip up some heavy cream. This dish was great, and almost tricked me into thinking it was the 4th of July.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a candy party last weekend, and figured this was a good excuse to try to make candy. The lovely hostess Elizabeth is vegan, so I started some Internet searches for vegan candy recipes. I decided to make homemade tootsie rolls using this recipe, which can be either vegan or not, depending on the ingredients. I had to use more powdered sugar in order to get the right texture, but they came out pretty well. I probably should have let them cool a little more before packing them up to leave the house, but time was of the essence, there was Skittles infused vodka waiting! They were good, but a little too sticky.

Since I was on a roll (get it?) I decided to make another batch to bring to work. This time I used a bit more sugar, and also let them cool completely for about an hour before storing them in a airtight container. The modified ingredients and simplified instructions are below. The texture this time was more like fudge, not exactly like a Tootsie Roll but still good.

There were definitely a few things that surprised me:

1. Just one tiny teaspoon of cocoa powder provides the chocolate for a whole batch
2. Almost 2 cups of powdered sugar somehow fits into this same size batch
3. Ginger snaps give the candy a distinctive spicy flavor

I don’t have much experience making candy, but it was fun!

1 t cocoa powder
2 T butter, margarine, or vegan margarine
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/3 c. ginger snap crumbs
1 2/3 c. powdered sugar, plus more for dusting cutting board

Place cocoa powder and butter or margarine in a small saucepan. Heat slowly, until butter or margarine is melted. Add corn syrup and stir well. Remove from heat.

Add 1/3 cup sugar and stir to mix thoroughly. Repeat 3 more times, until you’ve added 1 1/3 c. sugar total. At this point, turn the candy ‘dough’ onto a cutting board dusted with powdered sugar. Knead in an additional 1/3 c. sugar. Add more sugar if dough does not feel stiff enough.

Divide dough into sections, and roll each section into a log. Slice into 1″ pieces. Allow to cool completely before storing covered.

-Adapted from recipe submitted by vegbilayameogo on vegweb

Way back in November of last year, I got a large supply of chia seeds as a gift. Yes, they’re the same chia seeds you used years ago to make a plant pet, but now they’re food, and healthy food at that. See my friend Elizabeth’s post here which explains more.

My sister was on a roll with making desserts this past weekend, and brought this Pumpkin Cheesecake to add to the Thanksgiving table. The gingersnap crust was the best, and the pumpkin flavor was good, although subtle. She skipped the pecans in this one, although it might be a nice touch. The cheesecake was a hit with the family, and I am sure will be brought back again in future years.

We have a lot of great recipes to cover this week, but let’s take it in chronological order. On the night before Thanksgiving, when the pies were baked and the turkey was stuffed, my family had a birthday celebration. We started with a great meal of take-out Indian food, at my suggestion. I can’t believe how far my family has come since our great Indian feast this summer! My nephew is a man of few words, but he did say “yum” when served some Chicken Biryani. And perhaps the best compliment was my Dad saying that my chana masala was better than the restaurant version.

My cooking club theme this month was cinnamon, and every dish was great. We had pork tenderloin cooked with apples and cinnamon, cinnamon spiced sweet potatoes, and a Persian grain salad with cinnamon and cilantro.

I made these granola stuffed apples for dessert, using my first batch of homemade granola. It was a very simple recipe, although coring the apple with a knife was a little tricky. After the apple is cored, you just stuff in the granola, top with butter and cinnamon, and bake in the oven until soft.

While the apples were good, I think they would have been even better if they were baked just a little longer, and then topped with ice cream. For some reason, they just seemed a little too ‘plain’. But if you’re looking for a simple dish, then give this a try.