Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies

I'll be completely honest with you, I am not in love with Cadbury creme eggs.  I am much more of a Cadbury mini-egg addict. But, since it's that time of year and this guy I live with seems to love those sugar bombs I decided to make a cream egg dessert.

Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil

Ingredients
1 box brownie mix and ingredients to make them

1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
yellow food coloring

3 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp butter

1. Bake brownies according to box directions. Let cool completely.
2. With a stand mixer combine corn syrup, butter, salt, and vanilla.  Slowly mix in powdered sugar. Spread on to cooled brownies.  *This was a challenge for me as the cream was very sticky, I found using my fingers worked best.  Then I used a toothpick to streak the cream yellow. Let set in the fridge for an hour or so.

3. Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler.  Spread on to brownies.  Allow to set up in the fridge before cutting.

These babies are a serious Easter treat! 

I hope the bunny brought you all something tasty this year!

Manicotti

I'm just going to go ahead and toot my own horn here.  This manicotti recipe has been our family holiday meal for ages.  It has always been seen by me as this massive undertaking and day-long project that I could never possibly recreate.

But guess what!? I made the holiday manicotti! I did it!!  With the help of my anti-anxiety medication, aka my husband, by my side.

I'm going to give you this incredible family recipe today and I don't want you to take it lightly.  When you are ready to prepare the manicotti, set aside some serious time.  You don't want to be frazzled and feeling rushed putting this together.  You need a patient delicate hand to craft all the crepes for this dish.

Manicotti
Serves 10

For the shells
4 eggs
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 cup flour

For the filling
3 lb ricotta
1/2 lb shredded mozzarella
3 eggs
salt
pepper
grated cheese (about a handful)
parsley

You will also need: tomato sauce and parchment paper

1. To make the shells, mix oil, eggs, salt and water in a blender.  Slowly add in the flour a little at a time. Batter will be thin and should have some bubbles.
2. Use a small non-stick pan to cook the crepes.  Spray pan with cooking spray and heat pan.  Taking pan off the heat, pour 2 tbsp of batter at a time.  Swirl the pan around to make the crepe round and even.  Flip to cook both sides.  The crepes cook up quickly, don't leave the pan unattended.
3. When the crepe is cooked place on a plate with a square of parchment paper on top. Stack each crepe in this manner.  You can cut up a whole bunch of parchment paper before you begin cooking, or have your assistant help out.
4. After all the batter is cooked, mix all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Put sauce on the bottom of a 3 quart casserole dish*.
5. Drop heaping tablespoons of filling on to the crepe, roll, and place seam side down in a prepared dish.
6. After all crepes are filled and lined up in the pan, cover with more tomato sauce.
7. Cook at 350 for 1 hour.

*I ended up using a 3 quart and a 2.5 quart casserole dish.

There it is everyone! Proof that I really did make this.  I have earned my old Italian Lady badge.  It is really and truly worth the effort.

Strawberry Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with Shortbread Crust

I whipped up this baby for Easter this year.  It's pretty simple and packed with spring-time flavor.  Need an added bonus?  It's damn good lookin' too.

Strawberry Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with Shortbread Crust
Adapted from Closet Kitchen

Ingredients

for the crust:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour

for the cheesecake:
1 cup ricotta
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
sliced strawberries for garnishing

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Cream butter and sugar until smooth.  Mix in zest, salt, and flour until crumbly. Press mixture, using your hands, into 9 inch tart pan. Bake 15 minutes, crust will be lightly golden brown. Let cool before topping with cheesecake.
2. Mix ricotta, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Spread on cooled crust.  Garnish with sliced strawberries.

The cheesecake portion is no-bake, making it really easy to whip up!

Behold the beauty of sliced strawberries!  I am so happy there is new fruit at the supermarket.  I've been eating strawberries non-stop.

I really liked the freshness of the strawberries and the lemon in this recipe.  I will note that this recipe should not be made in advance.  The shortbread crust gets soggy the next day so make it the day you intend to eat it for the best results.  Happy spring!

Coconut Macaroons

Looking for the perfect addition to your Easter dessert tray? Look no further folks because you are not going to find a simpler recipe around.  These coconut macaroons take about 30 minutes to bake up and you probably have all the ingredients in your cabinet right now.

Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 egg whites

1.  Preheat oven to 325. Toss ingredients in a bowl and mix it until batter comes together.  

2. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter on to a parchment lined baking sheet.  Cook for 20 minutes, coconut will be slightly browned. 

How easy does that sound guys?  This recipe makes about 18 tiny cookies, so if you are cooking for a crowd you might want to double it.