Barnyard Buddies

It?s spring! Free your imagination and create sweet treats to surprise and delight the people you love best. Making bright and sunny cupcakes, a cake shaped like a carrot or a fancy Easter egg cookie is a great way to celebrate the new season. Even the youngest child can lend a hand ? and get the giggles ? when baby chick, lamb, duckling and piglet cupcakes have all kinds of hippety, hoppety adventures. Bees buzz, butterflies hover and is that Peter Rabbit hiding a basket of colorful eggs (with a surprise inside) in the carrot patch?

Welcome spring and make your family smile this Easter with fun and easy recipes using your favorite chocolates and colorful jellybeans. Be sure to stock up on seasonal pastel and other candies while they?re available. Besides helping to fill Easter baskets, you?ll want them to dress up desserts for all kinds of spring gatherings, from showers and graduations to garden parties.

For more spring and Easter recipes, decorating, gift ideas and activities for family fun, visit brightideas.com.

Preparation and baking time: 40 minutes
Decoration time: 10 minutes for each buddy
Makes 12 buddies

8 boxes Snickers Eggs 3-Pack
1 bag Dove Smooth Milk Chocolate
Eggs
1 bag M&M?S Milk Chocolate
Candies for Easter
1 bag M&M?S Minis Milk
Chocolate Candies Mini Packs
for Easter
1 (18.25-ounce) box favorite cake mix
2 (16-ounce) cans vanilla frosting
Red, yellow and green food
coloring
1 tube chocolate decorating frosting
Marshmallows (mini and regular)

1. Preheat oven to 350?F. Line 12-cup jumbo cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Prepare cake mix according to package instructions. Divide batter evenly into prepared pan and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.
3. Fit one resealable bag with star tip. Divide frosting into 5 cups. Tint 4 cups: 1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 pink. Spoon green frosting into bag fitted with star tip. Spoon remaining colors into other resealable plastic bags. Snip 1 corner from each bag. Pipe frostings on top of all cupcakes and spread smooth.
4. Sandwich 2 unwrapped chocolate eggs together with dab of vanilla frosting, creating complete egg. Make 1 complete egg for each cupcake and place on top. Use photograph as guide to decorate animals.

Bunny: Dot entire egg with pink frosting. Cut marshmallow in half and flatten slightly. Sprinkle pink decorator sugar on sticky area of marshmallow. Arrange on top of egg as ears. Add 2 blue M&M?S for eyes, 1 red M&M for nose and 2 pink M&M?S for feet.

Piggie: Dot entire egg with pink frosting. Arrange 2 blue M&M?S for eyes, 2 pink M&M?S for ears, 1 pink M&M for snout, 1 pink M&M for tail and 4 pink M&M?S for feet.

Chickie: Dot entire egg with yellow frosting. Arrange 3 red M&M?S for comb, 2 dark M&M?S for eyes, 1 orange M&M for beak and 4 orange M&M?S for feet.

Lamby: Dot entire lamb with white frosting. Arrange 1 Dove Chocolate Egg for face with 2 M&M minis for eyes. Arrange 4 M&M?S for feet. Place 2 mini marshmallow for ears.