Carrot Cake

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter, softened 
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

 

Easter Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup margarine
• 1 cup of brown sugar 
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups of milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease about 24 muffin cups, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Cream together margarine, brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown, and tops spring back when lightly tapped.

Chocolate Parfait

Every holiday, I make this dessert for the family.  This chocolate parfait is always a big hit at our family get-together and with the children.  I first tried this dessert at a potluck and have been using it ever since.

No changes were made to this recipe.

Traditional Hot Pot Meal

Because I am not sure what I can make for Easter so I made Hot pot instead.
Usually we eat hot pot in most of the festivals  at which a lot of people gather together.
It is good to eat hot pot in the winter time, and it is good to chose that to cook in the special events because it is tasty and cover all of the people's love.

Ingrediants:
hot water     1 pan
hot pot seasoning  1 package
green onion  
garlic
ginger

vegetables and peeled beef

you can add any vegetables like mushrooms carrots to it if you like.

Directions:

chop the garlic, ginger, green onion and put it in the hot water in a wide pan with  a package of hot pot seasoning.
If you do not eat spicy food, just put garlic , ginger, green onion in with water 
bring it to boil and put in meat or whatever you want.
wait them to turns color then you can eat it .


We can also deep it in the condiment after it has been cooked
there are several things that we can choose from:
sesame paste
caraway
pepper sauce
vinegar
soy sauce
sesame oil
etc.
In my opinion it actually taste better with the condiment.
In addition, there are a lot of kinds of hot pot. Such as seafood hot pot, bone soup hot pot and sour soup fish hot pot..  you can put noodles in to make it a whole meal as well.
Some of the ingredients above can be found in the Chinese market.

 

Braided Easter Egg Bread

For Easter I decided to make a different Easter bread that I've had at various Easter dinners and the like. I found the recipe on this website.

Ingredients

- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- 5 whole eggs, dyed (optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1) In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast; stir well. Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan; heat until milk is warm and butter is softened but not melted.

2) Gradually add the milk and butter to the flour mixture; stirring constantly. Add two eggs and 1/2 cup flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

3) Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

4) Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal size rounds; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each round into a long roll about 36 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick. Using the two long pieces of dough, form a loosely braided ring, leaving spaces for the five coloured eggs. Seal the ends of the ring together and use your fingers to slide the eggs between the braids of the dough.

5) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place loaf on a buttered baking sheet and cover loosely with a damp towel. Place load in a warm place and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes  Brush risen loaf with melted butter.

6) Bake in preheated over for 50 to 55 minutes, or until golden.

Changes

I only used 4 eggs, as I didn't realize that I had run out of eggs. The bread was a big hit at my family's Easter dinner, so I'll definitely be making it again!  When I would make it again, I would have probably used a bread machine as it would have made it all faster though.

Layered Salad

I made this salad to go with our Easter dinner last week. We have it with almost every holiday. I got this recipe from my mom.

Ingredients 

• 1 med iceberg lettuce shredded
  
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 10 ounces frozen peas thawed
• 5 green onions, sliced
• 1 med green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup mayo
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 4 hard boiled eggs, sliced

Directions

Layer 1st six ingredients in order given. Combine mayo & sour cream until smooth. Spread evenly over salad. Cover & chill overnight. Put on the eggs and bacon before serving. 

Honey Glazed Ham

One of the Traditions in my family on Easter is Honey Glazed ham but instead of buying an already glazed ham, my mom always makes the glazing. This is that recipe.

Ingredients

Honey Glazed Ham (Yummy in my tummy)

• -1 (5 pound) ready-to-eat ham
  -1/4 cup whole cloves
  -1/4 cup dark corn syrup
  -2 cups honey
  -2/3 cup butter
  
  
• Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Score ham, and stud with the whole cloves. Place ham in foil lined pan.
3. In the top half of a double boiler, heat the corn syrup, honey and butter. Keep glaze warm while baking ham.
4. Brush glaze over ham, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Baste ham every 10 to 15 minutes with the honey glaze. During the last 4 to 5 minutes of baking, turn on broiler to caramelize the glaze. Remove from oven, and let sit a few minutes before serving.

Father Tim's Baked Ham recipe

Every Easter my mom makes an amazing ham with a recipe here, from one of her favorite recipe books. Its very simple, and really good.

Mashed NO-tatoes

We got this recipe from a special nutrition plan recipe book. We make this instead of normal mashed potatoes because it's healthier. It tastes really good, my whole family enjoys this every time it's made. It tastes just like mashed potatoes but is healthier! Excuse my lack of picture, I forgot to take one, but it looks exactly like mashed potatoes.
Mashed NO-tatoes (4 servings)

1 Head Cauliflower
Sea salt & Black pepper to Taste (we also added chopped green onions & dill)
2 Tablespoons Organic Butter (we didn't use any of this)
1-2 Cloves of Garlic, optional

Steam cauliflower until very soft (you can also boil it but this isn't recommended as a lot of the nutrients are lost) Chop up cauliflower and put in a food processor or blender with butter, salt, pepper, and garlic if desired. Blend to desired consistency.

Easter Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup diced onion
  
• 1/4 diced green bell pepper
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 7x11 inch casserole dish.

2. In a large bowl beat together eggs and milk. Mix in cheese, onion and green pepper. Stir in the thawed hash browns. Pour mixture into prepared casserole.

3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes until eggs have set.

The original recipe called for bacon, but since I am a vegetarian, I left it out. It was still delicious, although some people may think I am crazy for dismissing the bacon from the recipe, but my family loved it!

Easter Chocolate Brownies

Brownies:

3/4 cup cocoa powder (best quality)
3/4 cup margarine
2 cups granulated sugar (I often reduce to 1 3/4)
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Icing:

2 cups confectioners' sugar (icing)
3 -4 tablespoons cocoa powder
water (enough to make a thick icing)
miniature chocolate egg (approx. 30)
candy sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

• Melt the margarine in a large heatproof bowl in the microwave.
• Add the sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Mix well then beat in the eggs.
• Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder & finally the walnuts if you're using them.
• Pour into a dish (approx 9x13) lined with greased tin foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C / 350F for 30-40 minutes (depend on how gooey you like them!).
• Allow to cool completely before icing.
• To make the icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl. Carefully add a little water at a time until you have a nice thick icing.
• Carefully spoon over the brownie and spread out evenly using a pallet knife. Allow the icing to set for a few minutes before adding the sprinkles (so they don't absorb moisture and leach out).
• Score into approx 2" squares using a sharp knife and place a chocolate mini egg in the centre of each square.
• When the icing has set you can then cut the brownie into the squares.
• Store in an airtight container.

Changes: I didn't use the chopped walnuts and I didn't make my own icing

Chocolate Easter Eggs

I found the recipe here. These eggs are extremely sweet, and rich, but still great! The only changes I made was melting some unsweetened chocolate chips with the semi-sweet ones, just to make it less sweet. 

Prep Time: 40 minutes plus chilling time
Serving: 30 eggs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, softened
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1 can (300 mL) Regular Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla or almond extract
Few drops yellow food colouring
2.2 lbs (1 kg) icing sugar
1.5 lb (680 g) semi-sweet chocolate, melted
Decorative icing (pink, blue, green yellow)
Candy sprinkles

Preparation:

1.  Cream butter and salt until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and food colouring. Slowly beat in icing sugar until well blended. 
2.  Knead with hands until mixture is smooth and pliable. Form mixture into eggs. Place onto wax paper-lined tray. Cover and chill 4 hours, or until firm. 
3.  Resting each egg on a 2-pronged fork, dip into melted chocolate, letting excess coating drip off. Place back on wax paper-lined tray; let stand until firm. 
4.  Decorate with sprinkles or let chocolate stand until firm and decorate with icing. 
5.  Store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Cookies 'n' Creme Fudge

I found this recipe in an old family cookbook, I decided to give it a try this Easter, and they were easy and quick to make!

Ingredients:

• 3 (6 ounce) packages of white chocolate baking squares
• 1/8 tsp. of salt
• 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups of coarsely crushed Oreos

Instructions:

1. In a small pot, over low heat, melt white chocolate squares, sweetened condensed milk, and salt. Remove from heat, stir in crushed cookies.
2. Spread evenly into wax-paper-lined 8-inch square pan. Chill until firm.
3. Turn fudge onto cutting board, peel off paper and cut into squares. Store leftovers covered in fridge.

Changes:

Everyone who tried these, thought they tasted amazing! myself included. They will definitely be made again.
I didn't like it tasting too Oreo-like so I didn't put the exact amount of Oreo's in, I put in around 2 and half cups instead of 3- which turned out to be just right.

Hellmann's Chocolate Mayonnaise Easter Cake

For Easter, I decided to make my family a chocolate mayonnaise cake from a recipe I got from my mom's cookbook. To add a more 'Easter feeling', I decorated it with Cadbury Mini Eggs & coated it in chocolate frosting.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/4 tsp of baking soda
• 1/4 tsp of baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups of sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla 
• 1 cup of Hellmann's mayonnaise 
• 1 1/3 cups of water

Directions:

• Grease & flour a 2 9'' round cake pan, or a 9" x 13" pan.
• Combine the first 4 ingredients; set aside.
• In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar & vanilla together with a mixer on high speed for 3 minutes, or until the mixture is creamy.
• On a low speed, mix in the mayonnaise until it's smooth.
• Add flour mixture in 4 equal parts, alternating with water & ending with flour mixture.
• Pour into the pan & bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
• Let it cool for 10 minutes before you remove it from the pan & frost it.

Changes:

I added a bit more mayonnaise & water to the mixture to make it more fluffy & moist - & it worked! I also used a pan that was designed for bundt cakes, so I had to almost double the amount of ingredients for the flour mixture in order for it to fill up all the way - that worked well too!

Chocolate Marshmallow Squares

I did my baking and easter into one, It was a big hit for my family.
I found the Original recipe here, I change the recipe up a bit so it could make the Easter theme

They were all gone before I took a picture but they looked
similar to this. 

Ingredients 
1 package chocolate chips
1 package butterscotch chips
1/2 cup Peanut butter 
1 package miniature marshmallows 
1 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Directions 
 Melt the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and peanut butter into one pan this can be done in the microwave or stove. Once stirred add the marshmallows and peanuts. Place everything into a pan with the bottom greased with butter. Set in fridge until it's hard enough to cut through.

*INSTEAD of the peanuts I used chocolate mini eggs, It worked well and tasted great.