Easter Dinner on Palm Sunday...

Mari Ann and her husband are both working Easter weekend, as you may know from previous blogs she is a paramedic and he is a deputy sheriff.  So we decide to do the Easter dinner this weekend.  On the menu is Ham, mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, potatoes au gratin a Pioneer Woman recipe, Mari Ann is bringing broccoli with cheese sauce, Legendary Lion House Rolls, (they were a huge hit last time I made them so this time I going to make a full recipe and freeze some of them, (I'll let you know how that turns out).  
   
Last but not least for desert chocolate cupcakes and rainbow cupcakes with 7 Minute Frosting.  I placed them in such a fashion so they will have the shape of a bunny with a bow tie, used marshmallows instead of coconut for the fur (no one in my house like coconut except for me).  I actually combined 2 recipes I found on the Internet to put this together, one was a "cut" cake bunny and the other was the cupcakes.  I like the idea of the cupcakes because it will be easy for the girls to pack them in their school lunches.  The cup cakes will be made using cake mixes, 1 chocolate and 1/2  a white actually. 

 The white cake mix was made following my 1/2 a cake mix recipe, the direction on the box said to use 1/4 C  of oil because white cakes are notorious for being dry, that's what I used.  Then I divided the batter was into 4 equal potions, in 4 separate bowls , approximately 1/2 C each, a different food color was added to each bowl and mixed well.  Then using a tablespoon or a very small scoop, place 1 scoop from each color into the muffin tins.  DO NOT mix and do one muffin cup at a time, unless you want stripes, which would be OK too, but I wanted more of a tie dyed effect.  A 1/2 a cake mix makes 11-12 cupcakes.  I used these cupcakes for his bow tie because I thought it would be cute with the jelly beans and so I'd would know where they were.  

I pretty much followed the package directions for the chocolate cake mix except I put 1 t. of instant coffee into my measuring cup added 1 T of hot water, stir to dissolve the coffee, then used milk to finish off the measurement of water the cake mix directions called for.  Each ear is 5 cupcakes, the bow tie is 11 cupcakes and the face is 18 cupcake.  I used Junior mints for the eyes, Sweet Mallos strawberry filled twist for the center of the ears, 3 pink jellybeans for the nose and Sour Punch strawberry straws that I split for the whiskers and mouth.  Just try to find string candy at Wal-Mart...Yeah right, like in that huge store you will find anything...like the sarcasm...
    

  

I think it looks more like a cat, the ears need to be longer.
But I think the girls will like it and that is all that matters.

7 Minute Frosting In (  )'s below is what it takes for me to frost a 3 layer cake.

 3   Egg whites  (4)

  9  T   cold water (12)

  2 1/4 C sugar (3)

  3/4 t  cream of tartar (1)

  1  t  vanilla extract  (1 1/2)

• In a stainless steel bowl, combine egg whites, cold water, sugar, and cream of tarter in the top of a double boiler. Whisk until smooth

• Place over boiling water and whisk constantly or beat with a hand mixer until the frosting is stiff and holds peaks, about 7 minutes
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.
• Let cool, whisking often