I've made:

-petits fours in pastel colors

-"Easter Bunny Cake" covered with fluffy white frosting covered with coconut and pink jelly beans for eyes and nose

- "Spring Bonnet Cake"

- "Easter Basket Cake"

All from the Betty Crocker's Cake and Frosting Mix Cookbook©1966 - a cookbook given to me by my future sister-in-law in 1968 - when I was 15-years old.

My favorite (before going gluten-free) was a Hummingbird Bundt Cake. I haven't thought about a gluten-free alternative and will need to give that some consideration. But first, I'm working on gluten-free alternatives for St. Patrick's Day, which is my favorite holiday.

At home, it would traditionally be a simnel cake. The marzipan balls represent the apostles.simnel cake

We typically have something with rhubarb if Easter is deep enough into spring that year. I've also made a passionfruit pavlova which ended up seeming rather nicely symbolic in addition to being super yummy and easy. My MIL makes Easter bread every year, which I think must be an Italian American tradition. It's like a very dense/stiff challah with icing and a very subtle lemony quality. Not my cuppa, but DH and kids go wild!

Islay, that simnel cake sounds tremendous! I love anything with marzipan.

My favorite part of St Patrick's day is the lamb stew, so it's easy to be gluten free with that! Easter? That's too far away to think about. Probably mom's carrot cake. It's a lot like the hummingbird cake.

I like cheesecake topped with fruit very lightly glazed. Upright closely set strawberries are lovely.

And I meant to say, I found a gluten free Irish Soda bread recipe. Can't vouch for it, but just in case:

Karina's Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread

This soda bread sports a mildly sweet and complex flavor. The potato starch gives it tenderness, moisture and lift. If you don't like the taste of caraway, try a touch of finely grated orange peel. Make sure your source of millet flour is truly gluten-free.

Ingredients:

1 cup gluten-free millet flour or certified GF oat flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch (not potato flour!)
2 tablespoons raw sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
5 tablespoons Earth Balance stick, or Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening
3/4 cup plain non-dairy milk with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, or mild rice vinegar added
2 free range organic eggs or Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer
1 tablespoon honey or raw agave nectar
1 to 3 teaspoons caraway seeds, to taste (or use grated orange peel)
1 cup currants or raisins

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly grease an 8-9 inch round cake pan and dust it with gluten-free flour. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening with a whisk, fork or pastry cutter. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the non-dairy milk, beaten eggs and honey, gently mixing as you go. I use a soft silicone or rubber spatula to do this. If you need a little more non-dairy milk to moisten the dough, add a tablespoon at a time and stir in. When the dough is evenly moist- like sticky biscuit batter, add the caraway and raisins. Stir only briefly to mix them in. Scrape and spoon out the dough into the prepared cake pan; and use wet hands to flatten and smooth the dough into a round loaf. Using a sharp knife, slice a criss-cross into the dough and wiggle it a bit from side to side to make a wider dent. [According to Irish folklore, the criss-cross discourages the mischievous fairies from messing with your humble loaf of bread. In case you were wondering.] Place the pan into the center of a preheated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the loaf is golden and crusty and sounds hollow when thumped. Insert a wooden toothpick into the center to test for doneness. Cool on a wire rack for five minutes; and turn the loaf out of the pan to cool to room temperature on the rack. This sweet and tender bread is fabulous warm from the oven, even if it tends to crumble a bit. It gets a bit sturdier as it cools.

gluten free Irish Soda bread
Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

Posted by Karina Allrich

When I was a child, we'd have coconut cake. A traditional Southern-style coconut cake. I think this was the recipe.
Baker's Coconut cake

Fresh strawberry pie with a sweetened cream cheese layer under the strawberries

has been the Easter dessert of choice here for the last 30 years or so.

This year I am looking for a good Raspberry Charlotte recipe.

Read about it on another forum, and it sounds so good! ! ! !

Rusty