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Top Ten Easter Sweets Recipes

by liz · Feb 28, 2019

Get ready for the Easter Bunny’s visit with this unforgettable treat shown above. Nestled in delicious butterscotch or chocolate nests, the unforgettable taste of these elegantly wrapped candy eggs will leave kids hopping for more.

2. Premier White Lemony Cheesecakes

Premier white baking bars give this elegant and lemony cheesecake a smooth and creamy consistency. Try this in the Spring, Easter or a bridal shower—to rave reviews.

3. Carrot Patch Cupcakes

These are almost too cute to eat! Cultivate a crop of carrots with dollops of orange icing topped with fresh mint sprigs in mini 2 1/2-inch terra-cotta pots.

4. Peanut Butter and Candy Egg Blondies

If you love peanut butter, you’re in for a real treat with these amazing blondies above. Kids and adults alike will adore these peanut butter blondies that are both baked and topped with peanut butter candy eggs.

5. Classic Easter Cake with Coconut and Jelly Beans

This cake is nothing short of pure American ingenuity, in my mind — a sweet and sticky confection of angel food cake, marshmallow icing, and all the jelly beans you can handle. It’s a little bird’s nest for your Easter table, and its deep nostalgia for me is only matched by how easy it is to make and how fun it is to eat.

6. Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns are lightly sweetened, mildly spiced rolls with a distinct image of a cross that runs across the top. They are specifically associated with Good Friday, and have been for almost a millennium. Over time, hot cross buns in the U.S. became extremely sweet, and today are often criss-crossed with a sugary icing, but that isn’t the recipe of yore; the original crossing mixture was more of a paste.

7. Warm Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Sauce

This warm mini carrot cake recipe is made in two tiny ramekins (the same size you use for creme brulee–6 ounces). Then, make the warm cream cheese sauce the moment the cakes come out of the oven. A sprinkling of toasted pecans on top is, well, the icing on the cake.

8. Egg-Ceptional Easter Cookies

These egg-shaped chocolate chip cookies can be festively decorated with colored frosting for a sweet Easter treat.

9. Mini Lemon Lime Tartlets

These cute Mini Lemon Lime Tartlets above give the fresh taste of spring and are the perfect way to celebrate any occasion.

10. Chocolate Chip Easter Baskets

These little Easter baskets above are sure to delight everyone in your Easter celebration.

Best St. Patrick’s Day Recipes

by liz · Feb 28, 2016

1. “Lucky You” Mint Pie

Feel extra lucky (even if you’re not Irish) with this refreshingly decadent mint and chocolate pie, shown above.

2. Irish Crème Brûlée

Just use Irish Cream coffee creamer flavor instead of the vanilla caramel and you have instant Irish flavor!

3. Chocolate Shamrock Bread Pudding

Topped with fluffy whipped cream and a sprinkling of cocoa, celebrate St. Patty’s Day (or any day) this year with the delectable chocolately delight shown above!

4. Leprechaun Rainbow Party Punch

This flavorful beverage features a mix of sparkling water and 100% all natural fruit juice topped with a scoop of tropical or berry rainbow sherbet.

5. Big Shamrock Cookie

Celebrate the ‘eatin’ of the green’ on St. Patrick’s Day with the edible shamrock above.

6. St. Patty’s Day “Green Eggs and Ham”

Topped with a delicious pesto spread and sliced prosciutto, this tasty delight adds a flavorful twist to a morning classic.

7. Irish Soda Bread with Raisinets

This sweet version of the traditional Irish favorite above features a taste of chocolate-covered raisins in every bite.

8. St. Patty’s Day Mud Balls

Who said playing in the “mud” wasn’t a good idea? Made from a combination of chocolate cake, chocolate milk and frosting, these St. Patty’s Day delights are dipped in colorful candy sprinkles and shamrocks for added luck – a festive twist kids will love.

The Bottega (Louie) of Seville

by liz · Dec 18, 2009

Every year in December, my girlfriends and I attend the opera for a special holiday treat. One of my favorite things about the opera is that the stories still apply to modern life. I always learn something profound from the opera that applies to me. Last year, Carmen taught me I ought to get rid of my two-timing boyfriend, perhaps outside the town’s bull ring with a dagger.

This year, instead of an evening dinner and murderous final scene, we chose a matinée opera buffa and weekend brunch at Bottega Louie in downtown Los Angeles. We were hoping for happy endings.

Arriving just in time for mimosas to be respectable, we scoured the brunch menu. It was glorious. Like the dashing Count Almaviva, the Pancetta & Burrata Scramble with pancetta, carmelized cippolini onions, mushrooms and burrata mesmerized us with its flashy good looks, cloaked in its down-to-earth demeanor. It was rich, delicious and satisfying in the way only an egg breakfast can be.

The innocent, lovely and spirited Rosina herself must have inspired the Farmer’s Market Breakfast with poached eggs, haricots verts, potatoes, golden baby beets, shiitake mushrooms, tomatoes & Reggiano parmesan. Rustic, beautiful and nourishing; we’d never seen a breakfast item like it.

But the best dish on the menu was the common and proud French Toast made with brioche, macerated berries and maple syrup. Like Figaro himself, this dish represented the “common man” breakfast bursting with self-confidence. Just as Figaro sings loudly and happily how everyone in town needs him, this humble toast was the shining highlight of the meal.

We can all learn something real from the Bottega and the Barber: the best recipe for happiness is a little humor, a splash of hot pink and warm maple syrup over toast for brunch.