Easter & Bird's Nest Cupcakes

We spent Easter Sunday at my moms. We made a honey ham, green beans, rutabaga & potatoes, squash, collard greens, yams and rolls. I swear I gained 3 pounds over this entire weekend.

Flynn was ready to eat the sweets as soon as we arrived.



John feed me ham as he cut it.



My mom getting the food ready to serve.


The big girls sat at the kiddie table. Natalie was sad because she wanted to sit with them at the adult table. Meg told her, "Natie, I've been in this family for 21 years and I still haven't made it to the adult table. Cracked me up!

It was fun getting to see little Natie & Amaiya in their Easter dresses
Here is a recipe I know your kids will love! If you are a chocolate lover you will really like these!


BIRD'S NEST CUPCAKES
The children LOVED these cupcakes. They were delicious and so much fun to see there faces light up when we showed them.

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp.
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self rising flour
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk

Icing:
2/3 cup mascarpone (or cream cheese with heavy cream added)
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablesppon unsweetened cocoa powder
chocolate, for shavings
Robin egg candies ( I used whoppers robin eggs)

Makes 12

Preheat oven to 350*

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale & fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift in flour and cocoa powder into the mixture and fold in, then stir in milk.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cups and bake for 18 minutes until risen and skewer comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

To decorate, put the mascarpone, sugar, and cocoa powder in a bowl and beat together until smooth and creamy. Pop a dollop of frosting on top of each cake.

Arrange the eggs and chocolate shavings on frosting to resemble a bird's nest.

A Dam Good Day

Saturday was beautiful here in Arkansas. My mom, brother Tim & his son Flynn, me & my girls all went out and spent the afternoon in Little Rock.


We enjoyed pizza in the park. Damgoode pizza pie!!

Flynn found a caterpillar crawling around on the table. He is holding it up for me...if you look real hard you can see it hanging from it's silk string.

We went and walked the Big Dam Bridge. It was very windy at times.

Love this picture of father & son!


Held little dogs like they were babies.

Took pictures of ourselves.

Flynn posed with Grandma while holding his 2nd caterpillar of the day on a piece of wood he found on the other side of the bridge.


The caterpillar.


Spent the evening baking with my girls.


Together we made a mess out of my kitchen. Unfortunately, my messy baking habits have been inherited by my girls.

Meg made these cupcakes. They are the PBJ recipe except instead of jelly she added semi-sweet chocolate. OMG...they taste just like a peanut butter cup!

This week I'm going to post the 3 other items the girls and I baked for Easter. We were on a sugar overload on Saturday.

It was a damn good day!

PBJ Cupcakes

Here is the PBJ cupcake recipes I told you about. Meg text me last night and asked me to e-mail it to her today, so I decided I would just type it up on my blog for her to copy and for you all, as well. They really are delicious!

PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY CUPCAKES

BATTER INGREDIENTS:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp.
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self-rising flour
(FYI...if you only have all-purpose flour....add 1 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt to the flour)
Raspberry or Strawberry jelly (about 1/2 tsp per cupcake)

Preheat oven to 350* F.

Beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugar together in a bowl until pale & fluffy, then beat in one egg at a time. Sift flour into mixture and fold in.

Spoon dollops into lined baking cups and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon, making a slight indention in the center. Drop about 1/2 tsp. jelly in each indent. Top with the remaining cake mixture. Bake in preheated oven for about 18 minutes until risen and golden. Transfer to a wire rack and cool. completely.

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
4 tablespoons mascarpone (if you don't have mascarpone, use cream cheese softened, add 1 tbsp. heavy cream and stir till creamy)
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted

Combine peanut butter and mascarpone in a bowl, stir in sugar until smooth and creamy. Swirl frosting on top of cupcake.

Makes 12