Easter Egg Hunt Goodies!

Tomorrow, we are having an Easter Egg hunt for our community, and I am in charge of the food.  So much fun!  All of these little guests will be younger than seven, so cupcakes and pretty cookies are essential to the day. 

I am in a quandary about the menu.  The weather will be chilly and hot cocoa seems right, but that is so not Easter! 

• Cupcakes
• Sugar cookies cut out in chicks, bunnies and ducks.
• Teddy Grahams as backup, a mixture of chocolate and honey flavors
• Apple juice diluted 70:30 with water for the kids
• Coffee for the Moms and Dads  

For the fancy sugar cookies, I use a recipe which stays just as you cut it:  Rich Rolled Cookies from the Joy of Cooking.  No puffing up or spreading out, just sharp cookie shapes.  It is essentially well behaved shortbread I suppose since it has not leavening.  Once cool, I used meringue powder from Wilton to make Royal Frosting.  I found the powder at Michael’s and used their recipe for 3 Tbsp of powder, 6 Tbsp water and 1 lb powdered sugar.  This was okay for piping the borders but for filling in the cookie areas, I diluted it a bit and colored small batches using McCormick food colors both regular and neon.  When using this frosting, keep it covered because it dries quickly. If you thin it more than is workable, just add some confectioners sugar.

The cupcakes are a standard yellow cake recipe topped with buttercream frosting.  Frosting is 1 stick butter, 1 lb confectioners sugar, 1 tsp vanilla (the clear kind if possible), and milk to thin only to spreading consistency.  I adore seven minute frosting and recommend it to you, but in my present kitchen, not possible.  I colored green coconut in a jar with food coloring, popped a Peeps bunny on top and added the pretty pastel Lifesavers jelly beans.  

Homemade treats are rare these days.  Everyone is so busy.  I remember that my sons enjoyed decorating the cookies for a few years and would sometimes roll and cut them with enthusiasm.  They still are great cookie consumers as college men, but I miss those earlier days.  If you can share this with your little ones, do it!