Easter Cake Recipe

Easter Sunday is this weekend. I almost forgot about it until my Mom called me and asked if I could make some dessert for the big family dinner on Sunday. I tried to think of something that was synonymous with Easter that I could incorporate into a dessert. Peeps strangely came to mind.

For those of you outside of the United States and Canada, Peeps are basically hunks of marshmallow that are formed into the shape of some animal and then dusted with food coloring and a light coating of sugar. These treats have been gracing childrens' Easter baskets here since the 1950's. They are produced by Just Born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Anyway, I wanted to use Peeps for this dish so I decided to make a yellow Windsor cake with butter cream icing. I also wanted a clean, uniform surface to mount the Peeps and also a few chocolate eggs so I decided to use yellow fondant icing. The end result was an unusual Easter cake that no one at Easter dinner will forget. Hope Mom likes it??!!

Recommended Equipment:
mixer
9 X 2 baking pan
long serrated knife

Ingredients:
2 tspn baking powder
7/8 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups baking flour
1/2 tspn Kosher salt
7 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp milk
2 eggs
1/2 tspn vanilla
butter cream icing
yellow rolled fondant icing (I used Satin Ice brand)
powdered sugar
Peeps
chocolate eggs


Preparation:In a small bowl, mix together the baking powder, sugar, and salt. Set aside for later.Cream the flour and shortening together in a mixer for 5 minutes.Stop the mixer and add 1 tablespoon of milk and scrape the sides of the mixing bowl.Add the sugar mixture to the mixer and cream for another 5 minutes.In another mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, 1/2 cup milk, and vanilla. Add this mixture to the batter 1/3 at a time mixing 2 minutes for each addition.Scrape the mixing bowl and mix for 1 minute.Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.Add the batter evenly to the 9 X 2 round baking pan.Put pan in the center of the upper rack and bake for 25 minutes.Check if cake is done by inserting a fork in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean,you can remove the cake from the oven and let it cool. Cover pan with foil and place in freezer for at least 3 hours.Move cake to the refrigerator and let thaw overnight.Using a long serrated knife, cut cake in half (like a hamburger bun).Turn the bottom piece over so that the baked side is facing up and cover it with some of the butter cream frosting.Place the top piece of the cake on top of the bottom piece with the baked side facing up.Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining butter cream frosting.Using a piece of string, measure up one side, across the top, and down the other side of the cake.Dust a flat surface with powdered sugar. Roll out the yellow fondant icing to a circle slightly larger than the diameter of the string.Place the fondant icing on the cake. Using a sharp knife, trim excess fondant icing from the perimeter of the cake.Decorate the cake with peeps and chocolate eggs. I used a small amount of the butter cream icing to attach the eggs and peeps to the top of the cake. United States