Punxsutawney Phil Cupcakes

Ok, so I didn't make any of this from scratch. I intended to bake the cupcakes myself and top them with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting, but who am I kidding? I picked up a dozen cupcakes at the bakery and instead of spending an hour in the kitchen, I spent it with my family. A good choice of time management, if I do say so myself.

These were so cute when they were done that the children didn't want to eat the groundhogs. How adorable is that? They did eventually devour it, Phil and all. This kind of special occasion baking is my favorite; easy prep with high impact.

Materials
Chocolate cupcakes ~ homemade or store bought, it won't affect the look of the final product
Chocolate buttercream frosting ~ again, no difference if you let someone do the baking for you
12 Oreo cookies
Nilla Wafers ~ one per cupcake
Sliced almonds ~ two per Nilla Wafer
1/4 c semisweet chocolate chips

Method
Place chocolate chips in zip-top bag and seal, removing as much air as possible. Microwave on full power at 30 second intervals until soft and melted. Cut a small hole in one corner of bag and squeeze chocolate onto Nilla Wafers making eyes and nose for groundhog. Add a small amount of melted chocolate to two sliced almonds and adhere to back of Nilla Wafer groundhog. Set groundhog cookies aside to set.

Separate chocolate Oreo cookies from creme filling and crush into crumbs. Frost cupcakes with buttercream and roll in cookie crumbs. Push groundhog cookie into frosting.

Peppermint Marshmallow Pops

1 ~ 10 oz package marshmallows
1 ~ 14 oz package white chocolate melts, recommended: Wilton
1/2 t peppermint extract
30 peppermint discs, crushed*
30 lollipop sticks

Cover cookie sheet with wax paper. Melt white chocolate discs according to package instructions. Press one lollipop stick in center of each marshmallow and place on wax paper. Dip each marshmallow into chocolate until completely covered while holding stick. Gently tap stick on side of bowl to remove excess chocolate. Sprinkle crushed peppermint candy evenly over chocolate, including top of marshmallow. Return pops upside down (stick pointing up) to wax paper.

Let stand at room temperature until chocolate is set, or place in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Store tightly covered at room temperature. Yield 30 marshmallow pops.

Chef's Note:
* I used a mortar and pestle to crush my peppermints. Much easier than using a rolling pin to bang on my countertop.

There is enough white chocolate to dip the remaining marshmallows half in chocolate, just crush more peppermints. I found that it took approximately one peppermint disc to cover each marshmallow.

Special thanks to my dear friend D.L. White for the use of her Wilton Melting Pot (pictured below). It melts the candy in minutes and has a warming setting that keeps the candy at the perfect temperature for dipping. A must have for all candy makers. (Santa, are you reading this?)

Peppermint Bark ~ adapted from Food Network

2 ~ 12 oz packages white chocolate morsels, recommended: Nestle's
6 oz. peppermint sticks, recommended: Bob's
1 t peppermint extract

Cover cookie sheet with wax paper and set aside. Seal peppermint sticks in zip top bag. Crush sticks using rolling pin until no bigger than 1/4 pieces remain.

In medium microwave safe bowl, place white chocolate and heat in microwave 1 minute on high power. Remove and stir. Continue microwaving at 10 second intervals, stirring well after each, until chocolate is almost completely melted. Stir well until no lumps remain and add peppermint extract.

Pour onto cookie sheet and spread into even layer approximately 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy and press candy slightly into chocolate.

Place cookie sheet in freezer for 30 minutes to harden. Remove from freezer and break candy into chunks. Store tightly covered at room temperature. Yield approximately 2 pounds candy.

Easter Jello Salad

Courtesy of my mother who has made this recipe every Easter for over 40 years.



1 small box of each flavor of Jello desired
Traditional recipe; lime, lemon, orange, raspberry
4 c water
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
16 oz sour cream
1 T mayonnaise

Grease 9x13 baking dish with mayonnaise. Boil 1 c water and add lime jello. Stir until completely dissolved. Add 1 c vanilla ice cream and mix until melted. Gently pour mixture into prepared pan and refrigerate until set.

Prepare lemon jello in same steps as for lime. When lime jello is completely set (approximately 8 minutes), spread 1/2 c sour cream over lime layer. Pour lemon mixture onto lime over the back of a spoon to keep from disturbing lime layer. Refrigerate until set.

Repeat with next layer of orange and lastly with raspberry. May be served immediately after last layer is set. Serves 16.

Leprechaun Cupcakes

one white cake-mix, prepared to box instructions
food color; red, blue, green, yellow
16 paper cupcake liners
whipped cream

Prepare cake mix and equally divide batter into 6 bowls. Use following chart to add food color to each bowl to make rainbow colors:

Purple: 9 red and 6 blue drops
Blue: 12 drops
Green: 12 drops
Yellow: 12 drops
Orange: 12 yellow and 4 red drops
Red: 20 drops

Line 16 muffin pan wells with cupcake liners. Evenly distribute purple batter among cups, gently spreading batter to edge of cup with spoon. Follow with blue, then green, etc. taking care to cover the underlying color. Fill cupcakes no more than 2/3. Bake per box instructions.

Remove paper cupcake liners prior to serving. Top with whipped cream clouds. Yield 16 cupcakes.