Our Easter Bunny was a wee bit late . . .

It has been a CRAZY week around here.  I started full-time training for a new job the Monday after Easter.  In addition to being exhausted by the time I get home every day, my allergies have been going insane since I'm outside way more than in the recent past.  As such, I came down with a wicked sinus/allergy attack on Wednesday that has just continued to worsen.  Finally, after multiple days of very nice allergy meds (yay, Sudafed!), I'm now finally starting to feel a bit better, and can swallow without the right side of my throat and my right ear throbbing every time.

Of course, since I've been feeling so yucky, there have been no extra-curriculars this week including no blog posts so I never got around to posting pics of the goodies I made for Easter dinner with my husband's family.  I enjoy making elaborate items for meals with Roger's family because they aren't big on cooking and baking from scratch so rarely have homemade desserts, breads, etc., at their meals.  I was raised that it was always better to prepare items from scratch so I make all of my baked goods such as pies, cakes, breads, etc., and there are always lots of oohs and aahs when I arrive with my latest creation.

This year, I agreed to bring dessert, so I decided to make a Strawberry Almond Trifle.  This consists of layers of cubed pound cake topped with sliced strawberries macerated with a bit of sugar and almond extract (I usually use Amaretto, but needed this to be kid friendly,) a layer of French Vanilla pudding mixed with Cool Whip, and some plain Cool Whip.  This is repeated until you run out of room in the trifle bowl.

Here's a pic of the final dessert:

It was quite tasty, and makes plenty for a crowd with leftovers of the individual layering ingredients for those that want to make their own desserts.

Even though I was only supposed to bring the dessert, I decided I wanted to try to make an Easter Egg Bread Braid.  Here's the final product:

This had a really great presentation and was pretty tasty to boot.  The bread itself had a lovely yeasty flavor with just a hint of sweetness, and was great with butter.  Everyone was amazed that the eggs actually bake with the bread in the oven, and just had to crack one open to see for themselves.

I dyed my eggs with regular food coloring, and there was a teeny bit of transfer from the dye to the bread, but it didn't affect the flavor any, and really didn't look that bad.  You can make the bread with plain eggs, or without any eggs at all.  Here's the link to the recipe: Braided Easter Egg Bread

I had to make a few changes when I made it; added 1/2 cup additional flour, and brushed with an egg wash instead of butter so that it would be glossy.  Next time I make it, I will reduce the oven temp to 325 degrees, and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes instead of 22 minutes at 350 degrees.  I also made the dough in my bread machine, punched it down, and let it do its second rise in the refrigerator overnight.  The next morning, I divided it into two parts, rolled them out, made the twist, added the eggs, and let the twist rise again for 40 minutes prior to baking.  You can also sprinkle on sesame or poppy seeds or colorful sprinkles to dress up your final product.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring holiday filled with love, laughter and tasty eats.  I'll be back soon with more recipes, and my most recent batch of freezer cooking. 

Cheers!