Easter Desserts

Photo of decorated Easter eggs by Tibor Fazakas | SXC.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KAREN HOCHMAN is Editorial Director of THE NIBBLE.

April 2007
Updated April 2010

Easter & Spring Dinner Ideas

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Guests may want to make a favorite coconut cake or fruit pie—let them! If you find yourself with dessert detail, here are some easy options.

Dessert Chocolate Tasting. Instead of traditional desserts, serve the best of both worlds: a cheese course with fruit, followed by a chocolate tasting. Your cheese shop can recommend selections to follow your dinner, and may even have a selection of fine chocolate bars (most specialty food stores do). Have four milk chocolate bars and four dark chocolate bars from brands like Lindt, Michel Cluizel, Scharffen Berger, and Valrhona. Cut the bars into 1-inch squares and either set them out on labeled plates for self-service, or arrange them clockwise on dinner plates for a formal group tasting. Use the glossary and tasting guides in our Chocolate Section to discuss the different flavors, aromas and consistencies.

Easter Cupcakes. Even at the last minute, there’s time to make a fun and easy Easter dessert that kids and adults will treasure. Buy plain frosted cupcakes, shredded coconut and malt ball “Easter eggs” (or any kind of small “egg” candy, including jelly beans or small chocolate eggs). Dye the coconut green with food coloring and let it dry for a few hours. Then, create green coconut nests on top of the cupcakes and put one large malted milk ball Easter egg or three small jelly bean-size eggs in the nest.

Photo courtesy of BakedNYC.com.

If guests asks what they can bring, you can put them on cupcake patrol (homemade or purchased). As an activity, have an adult supervise the kids (or adults) as they create the “nests” while you’re getting dinner on the table.
TIP TO TINT COCONUT: Put 1-1/2 cups coconut in a resealable plastic bag. Mix 1/2 teaspoon water with a few drops of green food coloring. Add the green water to the coconut; seal the bag and shake it until the coconut is evenly tinted.

Instant Dessert: Edible Arrangements Fruit Basket. It says spring, it looks lovely, and it has very few calories. Dieters and healthy eaters love it, and it teaches children that fresh fruit is a wonderful dessert. If you’re the hostess, you can order it as an easy extra dessert, if you’re a guest, you can bring it instead of flowers or wine. There’s always room for a piece of fruit! Read our review of Edible Arrangements, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

Photo of Edible Arrangements fruit basket by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE.

Quick Dessert #1: Lemon Curd. Americans don’t eat enough lemon curd: smooth, silky, buttery, and intensely lemony, balancing tart and sweet. Popular from the time of Queen Elizabeth I, you now can find curds in blood orange, raspberry, and key lime as well. Celebrate spring—or your Easter brunch—with one or more of them. In addition to toast duty, they fill tartlet shells for dessert and garnish fresh berries, pound cake, shortbread, ice cream and sorbet. You’ll find them in any fine food store, or click here.
Quick Dessert #2: Sorbet Easter Eggs. Buy sorbet in three Easter colors and scoop oblong-shape Easter Eggs. Decorate with a few jelly beans. We love Ciao Bella Gelato’s Blood Orange Sorbetto along with a lemon or kiwi and a mango or passionfruit. You can do the same with ice cream. Serve with tiny cookies, like Byrd’s Key Lime Coolers and Razzberry Tarts.

Marshmallow Petit Fours. After dessert, serve colorful gourmet marshmallows with coffee. These, by Plush Puffs, come in a variety of flavors. The limited-edition D.C. Cherry is especially lovely for spring. While marshmallow Peeps are an Easter tradition in many homes, if your palate demands the best, you deserve a marshmallow that tastes out of this world. Read more about thesegourmet marshmallows.
Sugar-Free Marshmallows. There’s great sugar-free chocolate for those who can’t have sugar, and also great sugar-free marshmallows. The perky pink and white sugar-free marshmallows from La Nouba, made with maltitol, are available plain and chocolate-covered (the plain ones are just 15 calories). So good, no one would know they’re sugar-free. Read our review.

Above, Plush Puffs gourmet marshmallows. Below, La Nouba sugar-free marshmallows.