Eggs, bunny cupcakes, and Guinness cake

We had an egg hunt for the kids at our friends' house today that was tons of fun. Though it rained right after we put the eggs out, the weather cleared up shortly after everyone got there. The eggs were wet, but no one seemed to mind too much. Except Liam, at first. I tried to get him to pick up eggs, but he would turn one over, proclaim it dirty, and put it back. It wasn't until I cracked one open and said pointedly to my little sugar fiend, "Liam, honey, there's CANDY inside." He replied, "Can-dee? OH!" and then took off running to find more.

A lot of other people took pictures, so I hope to post more later. But here's the yard before the children were unleashed. It doesn't quite convey the excessive amount of badly hidden plastic eggs, but I'm sure you get the idea:



I made bunny cupcakes that were a hit with the kids. The cake itself, a buttermilk vanilla batter, wasn't that great. But the decoration was pretty cool. I used pink frosting on the cupcake, then a dollop of white frosting for the bunny face. The eyes and nose were gel frosting, the kind that comes in a tube, and the whiskers were jimmies. For the ears, I cut marshmallows in half and pressed colored sugar into them.

Thea and Liam asked if they could help put the whiskers on. Normally, I'm pretty laid back, pretty good at looking at the big picture, how the experience is more important than the final product. I don't know if it's because I was hungover from the night before when my friend Don and I stuffed plastic eggs and drank an excessive amount of wine (though, really, I think it was the tequila and potato chip dinner that did me in), but I only let the kids put on a few whiskers before sending them off on an errand far away from the kitchen. What's wrong with me? It's not like anyone would have minded that they got incorrectly whiskered bunny cupcakes.

When Liam finally got to eat his bunny cupcake, he ate the eyes first.



Thea and her friends only ate the frosting. It was the best part, anyway.



For the grownups, I made a Guinness chocolate cake that I first tried on St. Patrick's day. The cake itself is unbelievably good, moist and rich without being too sweet, but it was kind of ruined by the heavy ganache frosting. My do-over, which I just dusted with powdered sugar, was a hit, though. Here's the slightly modified recipe:

Guinness Cake

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a bundt cake pan. Bring stout and butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely. Top with a light dusting of powdered sugar.