Easter Flower Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 vanilla cupcake, recipe follows
• 2 to for 4 tablespoons White Fluff Frosting, recipe follows
• Pink and yellow sanding sugar
• 5 pink candied Jordan almonds
• 1 red jujube
• 1 piece green fruit-by-the-foot

Directions

Frost the cupcake. Top with pink sanding sugar. Place Jordan almonds on top in a flower petal pattern. Press a jujube candy in the center of the flower. Cut the fruit-by-the- foot to make the flower stem, press onto the cake.

Vanilla Cupcakes:

• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2/3 cupwater
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups cake flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners. (To avoid cupcakes sticking if they overflow slightly, lightly spray the tops of the pans.) Put tins on a baking sheet. Set aside.

Process sugar and butter in a food processor until very creamy, scraping sides as needed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs and yolks, one at a time, pulsing after each addition. Add the milk, water, and vanilla and process to blend.

Whisk both flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients, in 3 batches to the wet, pulsing, and then scraping batter off the sides of the processor as needed after each addition. Process until the batter is very smooth and pourable like pancake batter, about 2 minutes.

Evenly pour the batter into the prepared cups, filling them 3/4 of the way full. Bake until the cakes are just firm and spring back when gently pressed, and the tops are golden, 18 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly in tin, and turn out of tin when cool enough to handle. Cool cupcakes completely on a rack before frosting.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ease of preparation: easy

Fluff Frosting:

• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 5 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
• Pinch fine salt

Whisk the milk and vanilla extract together in a small bowl.

Slowly beat the butter and sugar, in another medium bowl, with an electric mixer until incorporated. Raise the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 to 7 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula.) Add the fluff and salt and reduce the speed to low. Add the milk and vanilla mixture, scrape the bowl down, and mix until fully incorporated. Raise the mixer to high and beat briefly until fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Frost cupcake immediately.

Yield: 3 3/4 cups

resource: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/

easter-flower-cupcake-recipe/index.html

Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients

• 4 oz. (reduced-fat) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cups (low-fat) milk
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Mexi-corn, drained
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 small can diced green chilies, drained
• 1 small can sliced black olives, drained
• 6 corn tortillas
• 2 large cans white chicken meat, drained OR 4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
• 3 cups shredded Mexican-blend cheese (try a lite cheese for a healthier alternative)
• Salsa and sliced avocados

Method

In one bowl, mix cream cheese, soups and cumin; gradually stir in milk. In another bowl, mix black beans, corn, onions, chilies, and black olives. Stack the tortillas and cut into six wedges. Spread a little of the soup mixture in bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Layer half of the wedges onto soup mixture in the dish; top with half of the black bean-corn mixture. Add a layer of half of the chopped chicken. Continue layering with half of the remaining soup mixture and half of the cheese. Repeat layers. At this point the casserole may be refrigerated overnight or frozen up to 3 months and thawed in refrigerator before baking. Bake about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. (Bake longer if casserole has been in refrigerator.) Serve with salsa and avocado slices.

Notes: Pretty if sprinkled with fresh chopped cilantro or parsley.

Number of Servings: about 8

resource: chicken-betterrecipe.com