Easter Egg Cake
A cake shaped and decorated like an Easter Egg!

How about something special on the desert table this Easter?  Impress your friends and family with a cake that is shaped and decorated likes an Easter Egg.

You may think it sounds too tough, or too time consuming...but it's simple and uses ingredients available at every supermarket.  You will have the help of a cake mix and tubes of colored decorating icing.  The cake pan is sold at cake and candy supply stores. 

It's simple, fun and it is really no more work than making an everyday cake.  The hardest part is going out and buying the cake pan!  Give it a shot, it could become an Easter tradition.

Recipe

• 1 3-D egg cake pan set (two egg halves) (1-800-262-7630 to order) or buy from local store
• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3cup vegetable oil
• Powdered Sugar
• 1 cup(2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• Assorted tubes of colored decorating icing
• Decorating Candy (can be shaped like flowers..or can be your choice)

Makes 2 cakes (12 servings)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350, Butter and flour each pan.  Place cake mix in large bowl.

Add 1 1/4 cups water, eggs and vegetable oil.  Using electric mixer, beat 2 minutes.

Pour cake batter into prepared pans, dividing equally.  Bake until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean and cake tops are brown, about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, line 2 cake racks with clean dry kitchen towels.  Sift powdered sugar over in thick layer.

Turn cakes out onto sugared towels and cool.   Transfer cakes to platters.

Beat butter in medium bowl until light.  Beat in 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, then 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons sour cream.  Spread frosting over cakes, dividing equally.

Using decorating icing, pipe decorative designs over cake.  Garnish with candy flowers.

Options for Decorating Cake  

One simple way to decorate is to icing the cake then take frosting in tubes and create a lattice pattern atop the frosting.  With icing tubes this is simple to do.  Then place a candy flower at each intersection.

Draw lines across the cake with tube icing, creating rows that are one to three inches wide.  Fill in each row with pastel colored sugar

Use the colored decorating gels available in supermarkets to draw squiggly lines across the cake or to draw vertical and horizontal lines, creating a pastel "plaid" over the cake.

Use some favorite candies.  You can have lots of fun with pastel M&M's, gumdrops, jelly beans and yogurt-covered raisins and almonds.  Coconut, colored sprinkles, and candy confetti  also work great.

(Source: Bon Appetit)