Sunday Sweets: Easter Treats
March 31, 2013 Not to put a bee in your bonnet, but ... it's Easter!
;)
I hope this news doesn't take you by surprise. It's just that Easter came way early this year for some reason. Did you know that Easter next year isn't until April 20th? That gives us almost a whole extra month to plan and prepare and hand-pipe our insanely exquisite stained-glass Easter cookies!
;)
By Corrie Cakes
That's totally why I didn't whip out a batch this year. Yeeaaaah.
Who decides when Easter will be anyway? Is there a council somewhere? A meeting of the minds? And are giant chocolate eggs somehow involved?
;)
Because I will go to that meeting.
No, actually, it's very easy to explain. For instance, say the Easter egg cookies on this lovely cake represents the phases of the moon. And the two tiers represent the earth as it orbits the sun, and – assuming we're using the Gregorian calendar –
;)
I actually have no idea.
But the cake sure is pretty! I love me some pastels in springtime.
And here's another sweet springtime celebration:
;)
Baby chicks and spring flowers and new grass, what better way to celebrate the season of rebirth? I would also accept something like this for 'birth.' Perhaps that would quell the tide of terrifying 'lady-in-labor' cakes. Because yeah, they exist.
And we couldn't possibly talk about Easter sweets without an appearance from the Easter bunny himself:
;)
By Ali's Cakes
I love how he's standing there with open arms amid the lady bugs and daisies. That's exactly how I welcome springtime too. But with pants on. Usually.
Hmmm, which do I eat first, the chicken or the egg?
;)
It's impossible to say; they are far too cute to actually eat. Maybe a surreptitious lick. But I would snap off and chow down on those Cadbury eggs, you'd better believe that.
Awwww, this might be the sweetest Easter bunny I've ever seen, and not just because 95% of him is sugar. Look at his little pink nose and tilted head!
;)
Adorabunny! I'm loving that fake dirt too.
And I love how the swirls of this cake are echoed in the ribbon.
;)
By deviantART member buttercreamfantasies
That is some eggsemplary attention to detail. What? I had to throw in at least one egg pun today.
And here is one last bunny, preciously polka-dotted and perched in a basket, wishing you
;)
A very happy Easter!
Got a Sweet to submit? Send it to sundaysweets(at)cakewrecks(dot)com.
Note from john: Lindsey was kidding. She knows how they come up with a date for Easter. I, on the other hand, do not. I should probably Google that. *googlegooglegoogle* Wow that's complicated. Right, then! Happy Easter! [goes back to bed]
Reader Comments (34)
I'm using adorabunny at least once today. Happy Easter, everyone!
Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring solstice. Except you don't count the Sabbaths. Sheesh, how hard is that? o^O
[Editor's note- You forgot that it also can't happen before March 22nd or after April 25th, unless the Duke of Prague hops on one foot while singing the theme from Golden Girls. In which case it can go no later than the second of five full moons after 17 days before St. Patrick's day. Got all that? -john]
Okay, I'm gonna pretend that you weren't being sarcastic...Jewish calendar. Easter has to happen in line with Passover.
I want that stained glass cookie. As a window in my house. Which would probably mean the neighborhood children would come and gnaw on my house and then the neighbors would freak out and I would end up getting burned in my own oven.
You know what? Never mind.
Amazing cakes and cookies! I, too, want that stained glass cookie... Along with the fancy plate that it is upon. That could be the frame around the window, now I just need to buy my own house....
Happy Easter, everyone! (Aka: Happy Eappy)
They all put my simple Victoria sponge with yellow icing and plastic chicks on top to shame! Maybe next year I'll attempt an adorabunny cos he's the cutest thing out!
I can just about get my head around how we reach the date for Easter, but at the risk of starting a lemming-like stampede for the Epbot bunker, why is Easter in Greece not until 4th May this year?
I love all of the cakes, but especially the stained glass cookie.
Caroline, the reason that Easter in Greece isn't until May is because they use the Orthodox (Julian based ) calendar, instead of the Catholic Protestant (Gregorian) calendar.
Sometimes, like next year, it actually falls on the same day.
Not to be pedantic or anything, but Easter is actually NOT the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal equinox as we were taught in school. It's actually the first Sunday after the Paschal moon (and yes, it sounds like the same thing, but there's really a difference). The Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) set the date of Easter as the Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the vernal (spring) equinox. The Paschal full moon is used because that was the date of Passover in the Jewish calendar, and the Last Supper (Holy Thursday) occurred on the Passover. Therefore, Easter was the Sunday after Passover.
The Church does not use the exact date of the paschal full moon but an approximation, because the paschal full moon can fall on different days in different time zones, which would mean that the date of Easter would be different depending on which time zone you live in. For calculation purposes, the full moon is always set at the 14th day of the lunar month (the lunar month begins with the new moon). Likewise, the Church sets the date of the vernal equinox at March 21, even though it can occur on March 20. Both approximations allow the Church to set a universal date for Easter.
However, I've always found the easiest way to determine the date of Easter each year is to just look at a calendar!
I second DotRot--but add this is true for Western (vs Easter Orthodox) christians.
The lunar reference is two fold, ONE is it does follow the jewish lunar calendar, and two, it allowed christians traveling to a distant city to attend easter at the "local" cathederal to travel longer (by moon light)
because easter always falls on sunday, every once in a while, it can occur before passover--in western rites christianity--it never can in eastern orthodox.
Bunny and chick cakes awwww :D
I'm with Holly Folly - that stained glass cooky is the most gorgeous cooky I've ever seen. Though I hope we wouldn't get burned up in the oven over it... ;-)
On another note, guys, IT'S EASTER. Could we not have an Epcot? If I want to know the exact method used to determine which day is Easter, and when it's celebrated in Orthodox countries vs non-Orthodox countries, I can Google it, thank you... <heading to the Bunker for some peace & quiet while the youngins play with their Easter toys...>
Is that first cake . . . could it be . . . buttercream? :d
Thanks Anna A - just seemed mad this year that if I go and visit my sister in May, I could have two Easters!
I think that the complicated rules keep Easter in sync with the Jewish, lunar calendar, which has a leap-month every few years in order to ensure that Passover falls in the spring.
The comments for this blog never cease to amuse and inform.
There were not time zones at the time of the Nicean Council...smile so that has nothing to do with how Easter is determined.
The date is so complex because the Lunar calendar sucks for this sort of thing. There's a chance you can get 13 months in one year and have two Easters.
Also, there was very strong anti-Semitism in those days and the Church did not want Easter to actually fall on Passover or to be determined by and dependent on Jewish methods: This was in that long dark period when Jews were called "Christ-killers" and officially damned by the Church with prayers said against them at almost every Mass..
"Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Saviour a different way."
- Eusebius The Life of Constantine
"According to the Jewish calendar, it was possible for a year to have 13 months. Evidently, the Passover month of Nisan was the beginning of the religious year, for Eusebius tells us that the Jews celebrated Passover twice in some years, an indication (to Eusebius) that they didn't know what they were doing:
"They do not possess the truth in this Easter question; for, in their blindness and repugnance to all improvements, they frequently celebrate two passovers in the same year. We could not imitate those who are openly in error."
- Eusebius The Life of Constantine "
So remember that this holiday has strong ties to hatred and discrimination.
(All quotes from http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/godsreligion/a/aa040200.htm)
Easter is super easy. You can either follow the first Sunday after the paschal moon, or pop on down to the local Epsicopal church. We have a table in the book of common prayer which gives it away.
My parish made us homemade marshmallow peeps today. Boo. Yah.
@Karate Lady: I put an extra-long-eared chocolate bunny down there for you -- look behind the spare DOC ninja costumes, and enjoy the respite. Happy Eappy!
Well said, Karate Lady!
And while all these are super adorable, I LOVE the stained glass cookie.
I would much rather have cute little chicks and flowers and new grass representing birth than those terrifying lady in labor cakes. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much cuter and 100% less therapy needed afterwards!
Note to my sister: If I ever get knocked up again (yeah, right!), PLAN A BABY CHICK AND FLOWER THEMED SHOWER FOR ME, M'KAY.
Just wanted to let you know that I can die in peace now that I got something onto CW!!! I can't believe it was a cookie either- Thank you so much for liking the Easter cross cookie enough to include it in!! Just so you know too, the cookie was never eaten, kept in a ziploc bag and sat on our junked out mantle for the last year...I just threw it out last week in a weird spring cleaning mood that overtook me for an entire 30 minutes- it surprisingly kept well too- Again thank you CW- YAY!!
Basket weave done right!
sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me. if I'd started an Epcot it would have been from "That's exactly how I welcome springtime too. But with pants on. Usually."
Usually?? bwahahaha
@Sharyn - Nom, nom, nom...mmm...Thank you! I love chocolate, especially when it's a bunny! :-) Happy Eappy!
@Julie - Thanks! Although, it looks like my request was ignored...oh well...
@Barbara Anne - Hi! Hope you had a nice Easter! Hey, isn't it sort of a CW tradition to greet holidays with one's pants off? Not that I do that, what with 2 youngins - don't want them to get the wrong idea... ;-)
Corrie's Easter cookie shows what that gel colouring stuff is really good for. So often the stuff is flooded onto wrecks and ends up looking like gross melty goo. Maybe you could do a Sunday Sweet dedicated to Gel Done Well.
I just read a story about the giant chocolate egg on the interwebs. It is a tradition in Italy to give those eggs with a surprise inside. Yes, the eggs are hollow. Gifts can include a small toy for a child, an engagement ring, or even a set of car keys. The eggs are usually pretty big, but they can range upwards to huge. (Hope you like my precise measurements.) nearly every shop that sells food features the elaborately decorated eggs on display in their shop window, and the story I read had some spectacular displays. Apparently, Italians are not big on the typical American Easter baggage, like colored eggs and peeps, but their Easter gifts are limited to these lovely chocolate eggs.
@Corrie - You JUST threw it out?! You coulda *sold* it! I woulda paid good money!!! (Actually, I have a friend whose husband is the pastor of a local church and if your cooky still looked good, I *know* she would have loved to have it for their cross collection! (Not to mention putting it in the church every Easter... :-)
First Sweet- WOW. :o
hahaha @Karate Lady...yes, it never occurred to me that anyone would want to purchase a year old cookie, guess I'll know better next time I hang onto a food item for that long :D
beautiful, all! but the flowers on that easter bonnet make my heart go SQUEE!!!!!!!
I love the carrot garden cake! The fake dirt is oreo cookie crumbs. Autumn, I also love the flower pot cupcakes on your website and all your Easter designs.
These are all beautiful pieces, and yes, the stained glass cookie is wonderful, but - Three Dimensional Cookies?!!? That egg and those ducks are amazing! I would NEVER have thought to "build" a 3D object from cutouts - brilliant!
Jen, I totally vote for your idea to have spring-themed baby shower cakes - so much closer to the original baby animal themes of yesteryear...
I hope you all had a great Easter and enjoyed your treats, whether it was in the Bunker or elsewhere ;) .
The Easter hat cake was very well done and creative.
I love the stained glass cross cookie! What is that stained glass? How do you do that? I want to try it but google hasn't helped. Can someone point me in the right direction?