FREE Breakfast & Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday

Need an Easter Hunt for the kiddies? There will be a really fun Breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt (after all I’ll be there) in Vancouver, WA. It’s on Saturday, April 23rd – there is a FREE Easter Egg Hunt & Breakfast from 9-11am at the park ouside of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church building! All you have to do is bring your own basket. We went and did an egg hunt at a farm past Beaverton last year and it was way over crowded and lasted about 3 minutes and nobody gave us free breakfast with that one! So if you’re looking for a fun Saturday morning activinty, join me!  Address: 7101 NE 166th Ave, Vancouver, 98682

And with Easter just around the corner I thought you just might need an Easter Treat idea! Here is a fun gourmet recipe from my favorite recipe site Williams-Sonoma or if you need an even quicker version use a box cake mix, Cream Cheese frosting, toast up the coconut and add three of those little candy shelled Cadburry Eggs. But make sure the coconut is cool or you’ll melt your candy coating from the eggs.

Toasting the coconut that forms the nests adds a natural straw color as well as a pleasant crunch and nutty flavor to these whimsical cupcakes. Easter egg candies come in many different sizes; use as many as will comfortably fit in each nest.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. 

Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, oil and vanilla. In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 additions, beating until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Bake until the cupcakes are lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Then transfer the cupcakes to the rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Frost the cupcakes with the buttercream. Top each cupcake with a ring of toasted coconut. Place an Easter egg candy (or candies) in the center of each nest and serve. (The finished cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days; bring to room temperature before serving.) Makes 12 cupcakes.

Adapted from Cupcakes, by Shelly Kaldunski (Weldon Owen, 2008).